#not 100% that last one applies but better safe than sorry

[dell-cartwright]

Name: Wendell Davis Cartwright

Nickname: Dell

FC: Luka Sabbat

Age: Twenty-Seven

Birthday: November 19th

Gender & Pronouns: Cisgender Male, He/Him/His

Sexual & Romantic Orientation: Pansexual Panromantic

Occupation: Owner of Ruby’s Diner, often picks up odd jobs around town when he needs help making ends meet. 

Neighborhood: Willowdale. He’s a little more financially stable now than when he was at the time he bought his house. It was intended to be just a starter home but considering that he and his late wife lived in it together he can’t bear to leave it behind.

Positive Personality Trait(s): Dedicated, Compassion, Fortitude, Diligent, Curiosity

Negative Personality Trait(s): Pessimistic, Emotional, Envious, Over-Protective, Melancholic

Extras: 

- Has an M tattooed on in the inside of his right bicep

- Still wears his wedding ring

BIOGRAPHY

This bio contains mentions of drug use, blood, pregnancy + birth complications, and death.

Wendell ‘Dell’ Cartwright was born to Ruth and George Cartwright in Stillwater, CA shortly after his father finished settling back into civilian life after serving as a soldier in WWII. He brought some much needed joy to his father after enduring all the harrowing events of the war and thus revitalized his parent’s marriage. An outgoing little boy right pretty much right off the bat the only child would entertain guests with his playful antics and seemingly insatiable curiosity. His company was well enjoyed by his parent’s friends and family, as well as those who occupied his neighborhood. 

As he aged into some independence he took quickly to ‘adventuring’ around the town with his friends, often getting into trouble as they rarely ever knew when enough was enough. Though serious damage was rarely ever done, aside from the baseball through Mrs. Schofield’s window… Just as he had when he was a child, Dell had an urge to get as much out of life as he could possibly manage. Voracity to learn simply possessed him to a near fault. Only through his ability to harness it to his academic benefit was he able to convince those around him that it was a positive asset instead of a deficit.

Soon high school rolled around and he was ready to take it on with the same enthusiasm as he had his earlier schooling. The first two years were business as usual, until his desire to explore led him to the world of substances. Marijuania, LSD, shrooms, even the occasional bump of cocaine all soon drifted into his world thanks to a friend of a friend. As much as his parents despised this behavior, Dell refused to let his habits derail his life and in stereotypical stubborn teenager fashion, he also wanted to prove his parents wrong about drugs ruining his life. It was a balancing act, but he did manage to keep his school performances at the very least consistent with his record if not better. The use of hallucinogens actually aided his performance in subjects such as art and music. He would discover that this was a passion of his, though he wasn’t very naturally good at either he would toil away at the guitar or a sketchbook and charcoal until he was ‘adjacent to acceptable’ as he would always say.

During his senior year his life was filled with color in both the metaphorical sense as he was as socially outgoing as he ever was, often stopping by multiple parties or friends’ houses each day, and in the literal sense as he continued to experiment with psychedelics and artwork. One evening he ended up at a house party hosted by someone he didn’t know, listening to the music and enjoying the libations when something else caught his eye.

A female peer that he had seen here and there in school, but never really seen like he was that night. The way she moved uninhibited to the music and simply thriving off of the energies in the living room that night drew him in. Certain events of that night were not committed to his memory, likely due to the influences he was under, but he certainly recalled meeting her on the dance floor and taking her offered hand. The two of them pulled into one another’s worlds and beginning to meld. Eventually moving from the main area of the party to a quieter place where their lips met repeatedly to a similar rhythm as their bodies had due to the music. When the sun lifted up over the horizon the following morning she and Dell woke up on the couch with limbs entangled with one another. Sobered in more ways than one, they introduced themselves a bit more formally. Her name was revealed to be Mary Ford, and soon she was all he could think about. They found that they shared multiple interests besides just the use of psychedelics. Mary also found herself possessed by the voracity, the hunger, for life. To Dell she was perfect, and she felt the same for him.

Dell and Mary started going steady soon after. Their romance drew attention from across the school. Both of them were a wild child on their own, together they were a force to be reckoned with. However both of them were often too drawn up in one another to be worried about conflict with anyone else.

The summer after their high school education came to a close they each put the entirety of their funds into a large purchase. A red VW van. While their former classmates headed off for college or the workforce, Dell and Mary spent their first year of complete independence heading for unfamiliar spaces up and down California’s coast. Nothing but their van and each other by their sides.

Their impulsive and fiery lifestyle began to slow down towards the next fall, the two of them were nineteen and ready to continue their taking on of the world. After a sudden and unusual bout of carsickness from Mary altered them to the fact that their duo was set to become a trio. Any fear and unpreparedness they felt was overshadowed by the excitement they held for the burgeoning life they were now anticipating. Despite the new development they continued their ventures across the state, documenting their story for their unborn child with Mary’s polaroid.

When her due date was slowly beginning to approach and the realization that they could not raise a family inside of a van, the couple returned to their mutual hometown where their announcement was made for them by the undeniable presence of a bump beneath Mary’s shift dress. After selling their beloved van they use the profit to place a downpayment on a home and a marriage license. Officially making them Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright.

As they decorated a nursery with the play of a radio behind them they became enamored with a certain song. Ruby Baby by Dion. They had heard the tune before and it was always a favorite of theirs, but now it felt even more meaningful as the two became convinced that Mary would give birth to a daughter who would be an equally loved namesake for the song they adored. While their instinct would indeed prove them right later on, neither one of them were able to predict the harrowing circumstances that their child would make her way into the world through.

In the middle of the night Dell was awoken by Mary white-knuckling his arm as pain gripped her body. Their faded yellow sheets that covered their bed were becoming saturated with blood. Something was horribly wrong.

Dell took his wife to Stillwater General as fast as he was able to, minutes after their arrival Mary was whisked away from a vast hallway. Only managing to shout a frantic profession of his love after her before she disappeared from his sight, it would be the last time that he was able to set eyes on her alive.

An agonizingly long wait later in a sterile waiting room and an equally sterilely dressed doctor approached Dell and shattered his world with three simple words.

“I’m so sorry…”

The explanation of how Mary had undetected placenta previa with placenta accreta, an overwhelmingly fatal combination, had meant that no matter what they wouldn’t have been able to have saved her fell on a largely unaware Dell. It felt like he was underwater, almost forgetting to even breath through his hysterics, unable to focus on the words as he thought of how the love of his life was suddenly ripped away from him.

And then the doctor broke through the ice surrounding his brain with the news that he was now a father to a healthy baby girl. Nearly instantly he rose to his shaky feet and asked to see her.

The doctor complied with the request and Dell was soon meeting his daughter in the hospital’s nursery. Cradling her tiny body in his arms, the confusing flood of love he had for her now mixed with the devastation in his chest. Neither one dulling the intensity of the other.

He considered the temptation of naming her after her mother, but it seemed there was only enough room for one Mary Cartwright in both the world at large and in his heart. Not to mention it felt like a disservice to go back on the promise they had made to one another to name her after their the song that had become the soundtrack to their lives the last few months. So he found a compromise of honor both their agreement and his sweetheart by bestowing the name Ruby Elaine Cartwright. Passing on Mary’s own middle name onto their child.

Dell’s parents were a great support in the immediate months following Ruby’s birth, helping him settle into parenthood and single parenthood all at once. Soon he developed a rhythm of attending to her needs and not forgetting his own. It didn’t feel right, raising Ruby without Mary, but it was now his reality. There was no avoiding that. His father in particular helped him out with getting back on his feet. He showed Dell the ropes of fatherhood and took him under his wing in the world of business, imparting various aspects of knowledge about said world as Mr. Cartwright himself worked in business management.

Using what he learned he was able to begin to not feel as though he was no longer drowning, at least when it came to paying his bills. Dell continued to work alongside his father until about three years ago when he decided to put the money he had held onto to good use, eventually coming across an investment that felt almost cosmically fated to come into his possession when the owners of a local restaurant were looking to sell. Thus leading to how Dell became the owner of the aptly named, Ruby’s Diner.

Since then he’s been splitting his time between his now eight year old daughter and managing the diner. He’s also trying not to forget to spend a little time on himself as well. Managing the still healing wound of losing Mary with therapy and self-expression via music and art. Though his daughter has always been, and always will be, his number one priority, much like her mother once was.

[heeliopheelia]

What are some things that enha's s/o would side eye then for? 😋

Ngl I cackled while making these up

I'm sorry but HEESEUNG will wear his socks until the holes in them start taking up more space than the actual fabric itself. So let's say that the first time he invites you over, you have a nearly full on view on this man's dogs 😭

As much as I love to perceive JAY as a very attentive and understanding boyfriend, the first thing he asks whenever you say that your head hurts is "well did you drink enough water today, darling?"... Your glare always makes him wish he just kept his mouth shut

I feel like JAKE is such a sports fan but like in the least cool way as possible. My boy gets so riled up while watching football games, he literally stands up and yells at the TV every twenty seconds and always complains that HE could do so much better on the field than the actual professional football players. It's safe to say that whenever you're hanging out at his place and there's a game about to start, you don't stick around for too long 💀🫶

You know how the girls on tiktok make fun of how men apply their chapsticks? Well yeah, SUNGHOON is one of these men. I'm talking like all lips pursed awkwardly, aggressively rubbing the chapstick and literally missing half of his lips in the result

Omfg SUNOO is 100% the type of a person to notoriously sing the wrong lyrics to like the easiest songs, so when the two of you are singing your lungs out while driving in a car... yeah this shuts you up pretty quickly

JUNGWON help this bro will literally eat the most random food combinations ever – I mean ones that literally make your stomach hurt solely by looking at it. You're absolutely convinced that this man's digestive system is indestructible by now because how...?? The one that was your last straw was drowning his hot cheetos in milk ✋

The one time that you visited his hometown, NIKI decided to show you his favorite spot in there. The two of you sat in a train and he got so invested in a random interactive add on his phone that he missed your destined train stop and basically ignored you for solid seven minutes as he tried to download the game with his lousy wifi

[safety-pin-punk]

Any good tips for any baby punks out there? I'm new to the scene and need some advice. Any advice for diy's/ideology/music/ect?

Hi!! Sorry its taken me so long to get to this, I’ve traveled about 1300 miles (aprox 2093 km) in the last 2 weeks

Tips for baby/puppy punks!! Yes! I have a lot of those, but I’ll summarize into the important ones:

The absolute most important thing I can tell you is to develop critical thinking skills (if you don’t already have them). Dont just hop on a bandwagon because all the other punks are doing it. Take the time to learn and form your own opinions on something

The second most important thing I can tell you is to always take advice/criticism with a grain of salt (this applies to things outside of alternative sub cultures as well). People will tell you things. Sometimes they are lying or dont know any better. Sometimes their advice will work for one person but not another. For example, a lot of people say if you dont dress the part, you arent punk. However, sometimes it takes a while to build up an alternative closet. Sometimes people live in an area where it may not be safe to wear their opinions on their sleeves (especially minors). Sometimes people just like the color pink and thats *fine*. This mindset can be applied to literally everything. Just do what works for you

That leads nicely into my 3rd point, you dont have to dress or look a certain way OR listen to certain bands to be punk. Anyone who says otherwise is a poser. That being said, it’s generally accepted that you shouldnt wear shirts or patches for bands you’ve never even heard of (no one can stop you but you might be labeled a poser)

Advice specifically for diy: watch videos, if you want to learn how to make a specific thing there is 100% a video somewhere on it. Also, ask people. If someone has something really cool and you want to learn how they made it, go talk to them (assuming its not some dark alley). Some materials you might want to start collecting are can tabs, bottle caps, and safety pins

Music advice that I will die by: You dont have to listen to punk music to be punk. Sure, its an important part of the subculture, but not the only part. Its more important to learn about punk values than headbang until your neck snaps

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head, but if you have more specific questions please feel free to send in more asks or DM me!!

[far-side-skies]

Storm Hawks Bird OC Challenge - September 2023 - 2nd Anniversary!! 🎉🎉

Wow. Two years. I've been at this for two years, which I only realised last week. Just... just wow. I didn't expect this fun little challenge to last as long as it has, but I get the feeling it's just going to keep on keeping on. Thank you so much to everyone who has participated in and supported this challenge for the last two years, whether it's been by making characters for it, offering birds to use as prompts or cheering on the artists who have taken part in it. It's such a joy to know that this has inspired people even just a little bit.

So without further ado, I'd like to present this month's bird to everyone. We're going for green again like the last two Septembers with the beautiful flame-throated sunangel (Heliangelus micraster).

This itty bitty little hummingbird is found in Equador and Peru, living on a small area of land on the eastern slope of the Andes. Like most hummingbird species, they feed on nectar from flowers and also eat insects, which they catch in mid-air using a technique called "hawking". They inhabit dense mossy forests at high elevations, and are known to compete with each other for foraging territories.

Unfortunately not much else is known about these birds, but they look absolutely lovely so I couldn't help but use it for the second anniversary.

The deadline this month is a little later than usual at Thursday the 28th of September due to me having holiday stuff right around the usual deadline time. As always, extra photos and an optional colour palette can be found under the cut along with the challenge rules.

Minimum requirements for drawn entries to be put in the winner’s vote are a name, occupation, the character’s home/birth Terra and at least one paragraph (or about 100 words) of written backstory.

Minimum requirements for written (i.e. written dossiers without art, or mini-fics for the character) are 500 words including backstory and appearance. Feel free to make a mini-fic out of this challenge, I’ll make sure to link it with the final collage as well.

Entrants who are part of the Storm Hawks discord server will have the chance of getting a custom role for the next month! If you’re not part of the discord server, please ask for an invite if you’re interested.

You’re not expected to create a character from scratch for this challenge. If you’ve got an older character concept that’s been collecting dust or that you’d like to take the opportunity to revamp, feel free! The goal of this challenge is to inspire people.

Collaborations are allowed! Same rules apply, the only addition is that you and your partner(s) just need to make note of who was responsible for what part of the character.

Make sure to tag me in your entries and also DM me with a link to your entry. Tumblr is not always reliable about notifications for this sort of thing, and I don’t want to risk missing anyone’s entries, so better safe than sorry.

The group collage of entries, and the winner’s vote are opt-in. Participation of those parts of this challenge are not mandatory.

[commaclear]

Hi comma

I'm not a minor, but I know there's a lot of minors in tntblr and I've been on the internet long enough to realize way farther down the line that I've been in very unsafe online environments before.

I guess I'm saying this because of the new information that came out about that cc called kwite. I just keep on thinking about how uncomfortable it sometimes makes me to be in the fandom of such a homoerotic ship and know so many fans are probably only 15 years old. It seems to be really safe so far despite that, and the soap opera you have going on in your inbox is hilarious, but I guess I'm just worried that this could change.

I absolutely wouldn't be surprised if you delete this ask, it's pretty uncalled for. I'm sorry. But I guess I'm sending this ask because I'm still a bit younger than you, and wanted to know if you had advice for staying safe in online communities.

Only if you're okay with answering, of course. I really hope this wasn't too upsetting to read. I love your work, and I really hope you get that surgery you've been waiting on soon. Get well <3

I really do worry abt younger ppl in this fandom bc the internet safety things that were common when I was fifteen are becoming less and less common, so I would actually love to list a few

Do not share personal info, especially in your bio or pinned post and especially if it could be used to track you down irl (e.g. which city you live in, where you go to school, pictures of a local library/coffee shop/restaurant, your birthday, pictures of your face)

Tumblr is different from places like Facebook or Instagram because you are under no obligation to tell anyone your real name or show anyone your real face, you can and should embrace internet anonymity here because it's one of the last major websites where you can do so

Just saying you are a minor is enough (and you don't even have to do that, no one is entitled to know how old you are), you don't have to go out and tell everyone exactly how old you are because that opens the door for weirdos

You will know if something makes you uncomfortable, trust yourself and listen to that instinct. Even if you can't explain why a certain person/fic/art made you feel uncomfortable, listen to that feeling. Trust your gut feelings because they will figure out something is bad long before you figure out if goes against your boundaries in some way. Children are taught to ignore gut feelings like that, "Oh, it's not a big deal, go give your creepy uncle a hug or you're gonna hurt his feelings". But especially on the internet, where you can end up in dangerous or traumatizing territory without even realizing it until it's too late, you need to listen to your first instinct.

Just to harp on the above point a bit, if talking to someone makes you feel anxious, if you ever have to hype yourself up before you go to message a certain friend because sometimes the things they say make you feel weird, if talking to someone ever makes you feel weird about yourself or second guess things, if they ever ask you to do something you're not comfortable with (even if it's not at all sexual!! If you're talking to a mutual, and you mention you broke your foot and they ask to see the cast, if that makes you uncomfortable this still applies) If any of that happens, take a step back. Distance yourself from the person who made you uncomfortable for about a week and reassess how you feel. If there have been other times they've made you feel weird or uncomfortable, block them. It is totally okay and even expected to block people on Tumblr for literally any reason. It is always better safe than sorry. If this is the first time they've made you feel weird, explain the situation to them and establish a boundary. If they break that boundary, then it's blocking time. It might seem harsh, but to cultivate a safe online experience, you have to have safe people around you, and safe people respect boundaries 100% of the time.

tl;dr don't share unnecessary personal information with strangers on the internet, and if anyone makes you uncomfortable for any reason, do not hesitate to block them. You don't owe anyone anything.

And as tntblr's appa, I've gotta put this out there. If you feel unsafe in our online space or you're not sure what to do about something making you uncomfortable, then my dms are an open, judgement-free zone. I will do my best to help you out, and at the very least, I'm a pretty good listener. Sometimes all you need is a sanity sounding board.

[typical-simplelove]

I Tried (M. Tkachuk)

A/n: Just a funny little blurb I thought of!

In the ten years that you’ve known the Tkachuks, you’ve always been closest to Brady. When you were in middle school, your mother got a new job which resulted in your family moving to St. Louis. As a result, you ended up across the street from the Tkachuks. You remember the first time you met them, you only met Chantal, Brady, and Taryn. Keith and Matthew were at a hockey tournament. Brady took you under his wing, and the two of you became close friends. That didn’t mean, however, that you didn’t have a connection with Taryn or Matthew. You and Taryn had sleepovers almost every other weekend and did things that girls did. Your connection with Matthew was complicated. The only words that you could use to describe it was that Matthew was a pesky older brother who could be the worst to you but also the best. It was safe to say that you went to different Tkachuks for different reasons. When you wanted someone to laugh with and enjoy the day with, you went to Brady. If you wanted someone to gossip with, you went to Taryn. You and Matthew weren’t that close; however, whenever you were around him, he always made your heart flutter, and he made you giggle like a maniac.

When you came to the age to be looking for schools, Matthew and Brady gave their best pitches for their hockey cities. Brady told you that in Ottawa, your best friend, him, would always be there. Matthew told you that because he was older, he was more mature. (he knew that wasn’t true) Therefore, he could take care of you better. You ended up applying to schools in both cities and touring schools in both cities. You wouldn’t admit this to anyone, but you like the Calgary school better. So, when you got your acceptance letter from the University of Calgary, there was no hesitation as to where you would go. Matthew insisted that you moved in with him; however, you wanted the whole university experience and opted to stay in a dorm. However, that didn’t mean you didn’t spend lots of time with Matthew.

Now, ten years later after meeting Brady and Taryn, it was safe to say that you were closest to Matthew out of all the Tkachuks. You were sitting on the couch in Matthew’s apartment getting ready for a movie night with him and some of his teammates. Matthew came and sat next to you and offered you the bowl of popcorn in his hand. You reached to grab some, but Matthew moved the bowl out of your grasp.

“If I give you some popcorn, will you go on a date with me?” Matthew asks. For the past six months, Matthew has been trying to get you to go on a date with him, and you said no every time. It wasn’t because you didn’t like Matthew; it was because you didn’t want to ruin your friendship with Matthew and his siblings. You’ll admit, Matthew was a very attractive being, and you might have had the smallest crush on him in high school. However, nothing big enough for you to want to act upon it. Matthew, it seems, was in the same boat and felt that now was a perfect time to act upon those feelings.

You look at Matthew with a small smile gracing your face. “I think you know my answer. It’s been the same for the past six months.”

Matthew puts a pout on his face. “Come on, please? I really like you. I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” you ask with a raised eyebrow.

“Anything for just one date,” Matthew says. “Please? I’m not going to stop until you give me some kind of chance.”

“Give me a bit to think about what this ‘something’ you can do for me is, and then maybe you’ll have yourself a date.”

Matthew nods like a child. “I can go with that.”

“Is that the farthest you’ve ever gotten with asking Yn out?” Johnny asks from where he’s sitting. In your interaction with Matthew, you almost forgot that there were other people in the room. Actually, that happened anytime you were in the general vicinity with Matthew.

“It is, and I’ll take it,” Matthew says and starts the movie.

What could you do to get Matthew to do that you knew he couldn’t do? You wanted to go on a date with Matthew, but you didn’t want to ruin the good you already had. The WAGs have been telling you that it could only get better. You guess they could be right, but you also thought of the millions of possibilities that everything went wrong. You weren’t sure you were ready for the possibility of it going awry.

You knew that you had to pick something that annoyed you. What did Matthew do that annoyed you? The weird racing stripes in his hair. The inability to take care of his curls. The fact that he always chews his mouth guard instead of wearing it. That’s it!

You look at Matthew and grin widely. “I know what I want you to do,” you whisper into Matthew’s ear.

Matthew looks at you with a smirk and hopes you can’t tell that your whisper sent shivers down his spine. “Yeah?” he whispers back. “What is it?”

“You have to go an entire game wearing your mouthguard instead of chewing on it.”

“What?” Matthew says audibly that gets everyone looking at the two of you. “I can’t do that.”

You shrug. “Then I guess no date.”

Matthew sighs. “How about whenever I’m on the ice then?”

“You’re compromising?” you tease.

“Yes or no?”

“Sure, whenever you’re on the ice, you must have your mouthguard in your mouth and no chewing on it. If you can do that, then I’ll go on a date with you.”

Matthew could do this, right? Simple, no chewing on his mouthguard while on the ice.

. . .

“Do you think you’ll be able to do it?” Sam asks. “She gave you the hardest possible challenge, and you went along with it. Dude, you’re so whipped for her.”

Matthew looks at his teammate and shakes his head. “Don’t I know it.”

. . .

Matthew lasted all the way through the first ten minutes of the first. It felt unnatural, but he knew what was at stake. Ten minutes into the first, the Flames were up by two, and Matthew completely forgot. As he was skating to chase the puck on a breakaway, his mouthguard, out of habit, escaped his mouth, and he began to chew on it. After his shift was finished and he was back on the bench, Sam gave Matthew a sly grin.

“What?” Matthew asks annoyed.

“I guess you’re not getting that date now,” Sam replies.

Matthew was about to ask what but realizes what Sam’s referencing. Fuck, Matthew couldn’t keep the mouthguard in his mouth. He looks up to the Friends and Family box to see if you were looking at him or noticed it. You were currently talking to Lauren. So, maybe you didn’t notice? However, sensing Matthew’s eyes on you, you look down at the bench and catch Matthew’s eyes. His face instantly goes red, and the heat can probably be felt all across the Saddledome. You gave Matthew an innocent shrug and smile. Yeah, you noticed.

. . .

Thankfully, Matthew didn’t let the status of his dating life affect his play, and the Flames won. He exited the locker room and saw you standing there in your Tkachuk jersey.

“Hey, look, I’m sorry, I really tried, but I coul--” Matthew begins but is interrupted by you cupping his face and kissing him. It takes a few moments for Matthew to realize what was happening. When he finally came to, Matthew wrapped his arms around your waist and began to kiss you back. When you both pulled away, Matthew had a giant smile on his face. “I’m really confused because I failed, but I’m totally okay with you kissing me.” And he leans in for another kiss.

You laugh pulling away slightly. “I was talking to Brady earlier, and he was telling me how you were really nervous about whether or not you could keep the mouthguard in your mouth. That’s when I realized, you really did care about me.”

“Did you not know that before?” Matthew asks puzzled.

“No, I did, but, don’t be mad, you have a certain reputation. I didn’t want to be one of those girls, and I didn’t want to ruin my friendship with you, Brady, and Taryn. You all mean too much to me except you mean much to me in a different way.”

“So, this means that I can take you on a date?”

“Yes, Matthew, you can take me on a date,” you say, and Matthew kisses you again.

Matthew pulls back and looks at you. “Do you want to come over for dinner?”

“I mean, you did drive me here, so sure,” you tell Matthew, and you both walk hand in hand to Matthew’s car.

“I can’t believe you’re finally letting me take you on a date, and you’re letting me kiss you,” Matthew says excitedly. “I never thought you’d let me do anything with you other than be your friend.”

“I mean, you can do anything you want to me now,” you say.

Matthew looks at you with his jaw dropped. “I think you’re going to regret that,” Matthew says and picks you up bridal style. The only sounds in the parking garage are of your giggles as Matthew places kisses around your face and neck as you both walk to his car. All those worst-case scenarios? Yeah, you 100% could ignore them.

Taglist: @goalision @coffee-ontherocks @glassdanse @barzal-burakovsky @petey-patty @beauvibaby @boqvistsbabe @rmaye @heatherawoowoo @heaveniish @stars-canucks @tkapuckit @mellany1997 @nhlboyshavemyhart88 @heybarzy @2manytabsopen @besthockeyfics @plds2000 @kaitieskidmore1 @iwantahockeyhimbo @sidscrosbyy @barzysandmarnersbitch @ollywahlygator @laurenairay @sixmapleleafs (Join my taglist here!)

[princecharmingmendes]

Heart by Heart | Chapter XI | Raul Mendes

                                             *secret agent AU*

Y/N and Raul have been friends ever since they could remember. And falling in love with your best friend can be pretty tricky and messy 99% of the times, add that to the fact they're constantly risking their lives side by side on the field since they're both secret agents, and the best team that's ever existed. Perfect recipe for disaster.

Hello, can't believe this series is almost over! This is the eleventh chapter of this series and I'm sorry in advance, too many cliffhanger, I know, but at least this is a positive one, right? You can find the first ones here. Please read the warnings on this one, if you don’t feel comfortable with the contents listed on the “warnings” section, please read something else, there are a lot of other works on my masterlist and on the “fic rec” hashtag on my blog. Please give me some feedback and I hope you guys like. Happy Reading!

                      previous chapter | masterpost | next chapter

*Word Count: 3.4K+

*Warnings: cursing, violence, mentions of blood and guns, kidnapping, hostage situation, angst, and another cliffhanger (a good one though!).

Please don’t read it if any of this subjects make you uncomfortable, feel free to check my masterlist for other writings.

*Posted: September 23rd, 2021.

                                                 -*-

Y/N felt her conscience slowly coming back, blinking her eyes open and closing them again at the throb on the back of her head. She groaned at the stiffness of her muscles as she tried to apply some pressure on the sore area, and tried to sit up straighter. As soon as she was able to open her eyes and for them to adjust to the darkness, she swept her gaze around the room, trying to identify any differences from the last time she was awake. She was quick to notice Tommy sitting, now conscious, agains the wall he was tied to, watching him stare as a random spot on the floor. 

She sighed in relief before calling his name softly, her voice hoarse from the lack of use and lubrications from water, her throat burning at it “Tommy, you okay?” she was only able to notice the black eye, that was on his face ever since she found him on that basw, was getting darker due to the normal process of inflammation and healing. 

His head snapped up in her direction and relief flooding his senses was palpable “Oh my God, you’re okay, holy shit” making her chuckle at his surprised tone.

“Yeah, I’m okay, are you hurt? Did they hurt you?” she asked trying to identify any important wounds as he shook his head “did anyone come here to talk to you?”

“No, but someone came to check on you” he replied and she nodded.

“Did I took long to wake up?” 

Tom shook his head “I mean, I was also unconscious, but ever since I was up, maybe an hour or two, it’s hard to be 100% sure in here” he confessed and she nodded in reply “we’re you up before?”

“Yes, Geonoff came to talk to me a while ago, he got pissed at me and knocked me out again” she said with a shrug as Tom’s eyes widened at that. 

“I’m so sorry, Y/N, I should’ve never come to this mission, I only fucked things up and you’re in danger because of me, I’m so sorry” Tommy started rambling and begging for forgiveness.

But before he could take things too far, Y/N gave a brisk shake of her head, which she regretted almost instantly as the pain returned stronger, making her wince. 

“It’s not your fault, he already knew, and it’s okay, everyone makes mistakes, I can’t count how many times I had to save Raul’s ass and it’s okay, it’s our job” she said watching his shoulders slump even more.

“He’ll never forgive me for getting you involved in this, if we even get out of here, but I promise I’ll do everything I can to get you out of here safe” Tommy promised in a rush. 

Y/N’s eyes softened at that small confession “Tommy, he doesn’t blame you, he never could”

“How can you be so sure?” he asked, his voice small and a little broken. 

“Because I know Raul better than anyone” she said gently, giving him the best reassuring smile she could manage “you’re a lot more valuable than you think, kid, ‘sides, you’re in our family now, and Raul would never let me die when I’m clearly winning out little bet, he’s coming for us, both of us”

Tommy nodded his head still a bit discredited, before a curious gaze replaced partially the worry frown on his face “what bet?”

She smiled at the memory of their first year on the company “Raul and I have been friends since our childhood, right?” and Tommy nodded at that “and ever since our first training I was a great shooter, and Raul the ever cocky thing he is, decided to bet he was better at it than me, so we placed a bet, every time we hit a target we earned a point, and we’ve been scoring ever since, and I’m winning”

Tommy laughed shaking his head “of course you are”

“He’ll come for us, don’t worry about it, we just have to find a way to get out of here in case they take too long to figure out where we are” she said with a sigh.

“Well, I think I noticed a pattern on the people on this floor” he said with a shrug and she smiled at him. 

“I’m listening”

                                                -*-

“Raul, you should probably take a nap and relax for a while, man” Jack said as he watched his friend running his hands through his curls, his shoulders slumped and posture visibly tense.

“I need to get them out of there, and to do that, we need to know where they might have been taken” he said with a sigh, rubbing his eyes before looking up and Peter and Janet, that were both staring at him with soft and worried eyes. 

Celine was the first to speak after a couple moments of silence “okay, let’s try one more time, and then you’ll rest for at least thirty minutes, deal? We’re here for at least four hours, Mendes”

“Okay, fine” Raul conceded with another sigh as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table in front of him.

Celine wasn’t lying and he understood his coworkers worries, he knew they’re all trying their best to get Y/N and Thomas back, but he still felt like he needed to do everything he could to help everyone. They’re locked in a small room, with a single computer as he went on and on, listing every single place they saw him going or coming from for the past weeks, Celine and Jack helping, Janet trying to add others they haven’t mentioned and Peter typing down and trying to track activities. 

But they’re weren’t able to come up with anything. 

They’ve been sitting around a small wooden table taking notes, Peter’s fingers flying over the keyboard, as Celine sat on the corner of the room on top of a counter and Jack paced around. Janet, despite the clear distress in her eyes seemed the most composed one, while Raul was a mess. 

Everyone was visibly drained and needing a break, but Raul was going to try at least one more time before giving in and taking some time to rest. So he started again, listing on chronological order all the places, from his work to the gym Geonoff went, he told Peter again, but nothing knew came, and he stated the last one with an annoyed huff. 

“Anywhere else? Maybe an accidental meeting or something when you weren’t on the job?” Peter suggested and everyone shook their head.

Jack groaned rubbing his temples “that rat is smarter than he should be, that gross son of a bitch gets away with everything, even when he tried flirting with Y/N in front of Raul and you didn’t lose your mind, when I did that as a joke you almost punched me”

“Geonoff was hitting on Y/N?” Janet asked with an arched brow, to which Raul nodded silently. 

Celine rolled her eyes before adding “he was kind of obsessed with her, he even talked about her when she wasn’t anywhere near him, we were lucky he wasn’t a stalker, probably thanks to Raul”

“How do you know he wasn’t a stalker?” Jack questioned turning to Celine. 

With a shrug she answered simply “because he never showed up whenever they’re just hanging out at random places around town or at her building”

And that’s when it clicked. Raul snapped his eyes that were previously focused on a tiny spot on the floor to Celine. 

“That’s not true” he was quick to say “when we were on our day off, I took her out to dinner close to the docks”

“That date night thing?” Jack asked and Raul nodded “and he was there?!”

“No, we went there to a nice restaurant, and as we were done, we went to a shop next door for ice cream, and as we were having it outside, talking by the water, he came out of a boat with a couple of men and came to us”

“A boat?” Janet asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I’m not saying he was following us, but I don’t remember any boat activities being tracked, maybe she’s at his boat or something” Raul guessed but Janet shook her head. 

“My grandfather had a boat hangar thing on the other side of down and a marina on the docks where you went with her, I’m almost sure it got closed down when my grandfather passed, but maybe he never sold it and it’s still there, just empty and slipping out of our radar” Janet suggested almost cheerfully.

“Peter?” Celine asked.

“On it” he mumbled, eyes glued to the screen in front of him “do you remember the number of the storage?”

“Twenty seven” Janet replied quickly. 

Raul’s heart was almost beating out of his chest, waiting for his brother’s analysis in silence among the others. Peter’s eyes never left the screen as he checked for any sign of suspicious movement or even the image Geonoff himself around the area. 

“Are you one hundred percent sure it’s deactivated?” Peter asked turning to their boss with a frown on his features, to which Janet nodded “well, then this might be the place”

“What?!” Jack squealed. 

“I can’t prove anything or be too sure with what I found, we’d need to watch the area a bit better, cause the movement is almost insignificant, but is there, here, look at this” Peter pointed at his screen “this person is walking by, right? He was supposed to come from here” he said switching cameras “but he didn’t show up on the other side, which is weird”

Janet was on her feet in a second, leaving the room quickly, her voice echoing down the hall as she ordered the other agents to investigate every millimeter around the hangar they just found and report immediately at any suspicious movement and/ or man around the area for the past 48 hours. 

Celine squeezed Raul’s shoulder, making him look up at her “we’re gonna get them back” he was able to give her a small smile with a nod “now let’s rest for a couple of minutes, at least until these computer nerds find something worth invading and breaking, which is what we’re good at, yeah?”

“Hey!” Peter interrupted without looking up at them.

Celine chuckled at him “nothing gainer you guys, you’re cute even, we’re the dumb brute ones around here” she said with a wink, making Peter’s face tint pink, making Raul and Jack laugh. 

                                                -*-

In less than three hours they were able to find enough movement around the storage from Janet’s family for it to be suspicious enough and be enough evidence that Geonoff might have kept Y/N and Thomas in there somewhere, probably in the lower level. So in that time they’re able to come up with a tactical force to extract them both, and another team to wait for a signal so they could invade and find as many Reyes’ men they could to arrest, and maybe Geonoff himself. 

Raul would be leading the small team, mostly Celine, Jack and two other experienced agents, to retrieve their coworkers and send the signal as soon as they’re found and armed to leave. While that happened, Janet would be waiting to lead another larger team, with agents that had just arrived with that purpose. Peter would be replacing Y/N this time to guide them inside better and coordinate the arrests with local and national authorities as well.

Raul was unable to rest properly, but was forced by his friends to at least lay down for half an hour so he could at least relax the tiniest bit possible under those circumstances. 

But as soon as Peter informed there was enough reason for them to invade, he was up on his feet, already helping plan every movement the team would make and offering himself to do whatever they needed to get this done. Soon enough he was in his tactical gear, weapons strapped to his chest and an earpiece securely in place. 

The initial jitter he felt ok the beginning of this mission was gone, now the reason for his bouncing leg, nervous tugging on his curls and generally agitated state was for a completely different reason. Raul just needed to mae sure Y/N and Tommy were okay. Not because he was in love with her or saw himself as some sort of protective figure in Thomas’ life. Of course that counted, but the main reason was that he felt insanely guilty for abandoning his teammates when he was the captain, he should’ve never done that. It was his job to get them back into safety and he failed. Both of them.

And he knew Y/N would be scowling at him if she was around, listening to him whine about how bad of a captain he was, she would’ve poked him in the chest telling him to “shut up and stop acting like a baby, ‘cause he did the right thing and that’s all that matter, that he couldn’t control everything and it was part of the job”, or something like that. He needed his best friend back. 

So they hoped on a van and we’re taken to the place, stopping a couple of blocks before arriving so they’d be less likely identified before entering the building. Peter guiding them through coms so they could be caught in any surveillance cameras, since Geonoff’s men could be using them to watch for anyone that could possibly want to invade. And with not so much effort, they’re able to climb in through a small window on the back, unnoticed until that moment, as they searched quickly around before moving forward for the investigation. 

“The basement is two floors down” Peter’s voice ringed in Raul’s ear.

And despite the news he felt of reaching Y/N as fast as he possibly could, he led his team as carefully as he could, avoiding every movement that indicated there was some close by on watch. After a couple of moments they hit the bottom floor, searching quickly inside the few rooms around, but being met with only darkness and silence. No sign of them. No sound, no source of light or anything, not even guards around. 

Raul looked back at Celine, who looked a lot more distressed than he was used to seeing, as he gestured at the last room around, Jack quickly approaching and trying to break the lock, but only to take a step back with a confused frown on his face. And before they could ask him what was going on, Jack only pushed the heavy door open, hun in hand as he stepped inside. Raul and Celine shared a look before following him.

The room was almost pitch black, their flashlights making the silver of chains shine as they flashed on then. Raul approached the wall, seeing both pairs tossed around and poorly opened, seeing clear signs of struggle near them and small droplets of fairly fresh blood on the floor, making his stomach sink. They’re there, not long ago, but they’re nowhere to be found and Peter didn’t catch them on any cameras inside and out the hangar. 

Celine let out a tiny gasp as realization hit her, Jack being quick to grab her arm “don’t jump into any conclusions, we have no clue of what happened in here and no evidence of the worst either”

“What is there to miss, Jack?!” she asked in a hushed tone, pulling her arm back and keeping it close to his chest. 

Jack sighed as he walked to Raul “hey dude, we gotta keep going, if we stay here for too long they’ll find us and this won’t help Y/N’s case at all, we can keep on looking”

Raul shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around it, but before he could say or do anything stupid, Peter’s voice sounded in his ear “Geonoff is on the second floor! Everyone needs to go now!” but he couldn’t move a single muscle. 

“Come on, guys” Jack was quick to call, tapping Raul lightly on the shoulder and moving to the door, but as soon as he realized his friends weren’t behind him, he turned back to find them placed exactly where they were “guys?”

Nor Raul neither Celine answered. She kept her wild gaze on Raul’s face, as if she was waiting for his orders to follow, and he was pretty sure that if, in that moment, he asked her to unleash her anger on anyone standing in front of them, she would without questioning. But he knew they had to keep moving, he couldn’t put their lives at risk as well, so he shook his head.

“Come on” he said abruptly and Celine nodding and turning to follow Jack into the narrow corridor again, moving in the direction of the stairs.

But as they’re approaching the stairs, they heard the sounds of boots thumping against the steps moving in their direction, and he knew those weren’t their agents, those were probably the enemy, coming into a small space where they’re clearly outnumbered and had no place to run to or hide.

“Raul, you guys need to get out of there, there are over seven man approaching you and you can’t draw too much attention or Geonoff’s gonna flea” Peter called through his ear piece and he knew, he agreed, but he didn’t have much to do, but he nodded either way.

He signaled for Celine and Jack to get ready and squeeze as hard as they could against a wall to try and hide as best as they could behind a locker so they’d at least have the element of surprise in case of an attack. And as he heard the low voices in hushed tones of men approaching, he uncollected the safety and nodded to Jack and Celine to prepare. Raul took a deep breath and waited for the first shadow to appear by his feet, but it never came.

Instead he heard several hard thuds, grunts and the sound of bodies falling to the floor before anyone could complain. The three of them stood there hidden with wide eyes, not knowing what to do, since they had no clue what had happened and were still apparently flying under the radar. And before he could come up with any crazy idea to get them out of that situation, he heard a heavenly sound of a soft giggle.

Raul’s eyes widened as his heart threatened to beat out of his chest and burst into a million pieces at the same time, his legs almost giving out. But at the sound of her sweet voice, he almost fell down to his knees, leaving his partially hidden spot only to be met with Y/N and Tommy standing a couple of feet away from him with a triumphant smile on her lips, the seven men lying unconscious by her feet. He swears he died and was in heaven. The thought quickly pushed aside as he heard Celine and Jack’s shocked gasps at the sight in front of him. 

“Took you guys long enough” she said with a shrug and they kept staring at them in shock “what?”

“How did-” Celine started but cut herself off still in shock. 

But before Y/N could answer, Raul took three long strides avoiding stepping on anyone and pulling her into his arms tightly, feeling finally at peace as he felt her body molding to his in their embrace. 

Y/N let out the tiniest giggle, before pressing a kiss to his hair “it’s a long story I’ll tell you guys later, now we have to go” she added tapping Raul on his shoulder, bringing him to look at her “by the way, you need to score three more points for me, I’m still winning out bet” she finished with a wink.

And in the first time in more than twenty four hours, Raul felt the weight living his shoulder as Tommy snorted next to her and he huffed out a small chuckle, squeezing the young man’s shoulder with a smirk on his lips, without letting go of his girl. Now all he needed to do was take that son of a bitch before heading home with his family. 

                                                 -*-

*Please reblog or like this post if you liked it so I’ll know.

*I’m sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.

*Please do not repost this without giving me the credit, this is a completely original piece and I do not give permission to copy this!

*Hope you guys enjoyed it!

*xoxo

-🌙

[ohbae-me]

okay so, im about to go ham because i truly stand strong in my shoujo fantasy.

In my opinion, im pretty sure (like 89%) lucifer tells us that whenever mammon breaks off a relationship with someone, they go broke completely after. so hes had previous relationships before, as for the rest of the boys, im pretty sure lucifer has, but nothing serious, he wont let anyone in, MC is literally the only person who has pushed past his walls and seen him for more than pride. satan, 100% he has never had a relationship, levi, has had a couple of fwbs and other relationships but they always fizzle out, never lasting. asmo has never had a serious relationship, always just flings. belphie never had a serious relationship and same with beel. i truly believe MC is their first true loves, i know what youre thinking "theyve been alive for so long, theres no way someone couldnt have been special to them" but the thing is, theyre so different with MC; their entire dynamic and relationships changed with MC, MC saw them for more than their sin and got to know them to their very core, while yes the other relationships never lasted, thats not to say the boys didnt love them; but just not in the way they love MC. i believe MC to be a true love, not just a love, the difference for me is all of the boys would gladly give up chasing MC once she finds herself happy with another brother, instead of forcing them to choose yk? the "as long as youre happy, it kills me everytime i look at you smile at him, but i love you too much to let you be miserable with me" and i dont think any of them have experienced. also, with the whole "new relationship" thing, the honey moon phase, while yes every couple has it, i feel like with MC it would just, last. not to say they wouldnt have fights; ofc they would, but its different with MC, everyday the brothers would wake up and chose the option to love and fall in love all over again, speaking further on that, i dont think any of them would truly get over MC. and i mean that; (i dont think MC is going to die, obey me devs have something planned LOL, plus theyre super powerful, like the other anon said i dont think theyd be able to really function without them, even if they do "get over" mcs death at some point.) after MC dies i feel like the family dynamic wouldnt be the same, the brothers would get quieter and would never truly forget about it? and every relationship would fail because theyre not MC (you dont have to agree but i love reverse harems), like i 100% hc that after MC chooses another brother or after they die, mammon would try and try to find new flings, even after its been decades mammon finds someone whos super similar to MC, their look, personality, etc, but one wrong move and theyre out. (say MC doesnt like pickles, but the replacement for MC does, he would immediately start crying and call mc a stupid human who he shouldnt have fallen for.) anyways in conclusion, i truly dont think MC would ever die canonically in the obey me game, the devs are sneaky (love you devs), but even if they would, i really feel like they would never get truly over it. some part of me truly believes that the brothers would go back to being distant, how they were before. they would sit at the table and eat in silence, asmo would begin partying ten times harder (since we already know he uses his ego to cover up his major insecurity of people not liking him and how he feels about himself) and the brothers would become even more indugled in their sin. also, for every relationship they would have, they would just compare them to MC, and yeah but I cannot see MC dying. the other stuff about what the brothers would be like after MC dies could also be applied to when MC chooses her s/o. i think the brothers would be super fucking hurt, that was their first love, their first understanding who walked out and chose someone who wasnt them. anyways thats all, you dont have to reply i just felt like i needed to get this off of my chest, also im gonna be pretty frequent on your blog ( i love ur writing ) so im gonna call myself cake anon! have a great day! - cake anon

Hello Cake! iluuu! Thanks for this, i really love getting every ones take on these things! And there is defs a lot that i agree with here. 

I agree with the Mammon part. Out of all of the brothers, i feel he is probably the easiest to get emotionally attached in a relationship, so i see him as the one with the most previous relationships. Asmo coming in second, but his being mostly flings or poly/open relationships. I’m sure Mammon has had some serious ones as well as many flings, where Asmo’s have never been overly serious and certainly never long lasting. I’m also sure Luci has had a few, some more serious than others, but he wouldn’t get overly attached emotionally. I’m sure he’d be too busy with Diavolo since arriving, being the workaholic he is. I’m sure not many partners would be willing to deal with that level of non-commitment and emotional unavailability from him.Levi I feel like all his relationships never left that awkward early stage, and his only ‘serious’ relationships would have been strictly online, maybe a couple meetups that made him nope right out of it. Satan, again, has probably just gone on some casual dates but didn’t have much interest in actually dating rather than gaining connections. i feel like Beel is the most likely candidate to have had healthy previous relationships. He is pretty well balanced emotionally and has a good outlook on love and family values. I’m sure he’s had a few serious relationships and has dated his share of people. Belphie gives me vibes of had one or two previous serious relationships that did not end well at all and now he’s a salty sob over it lmao. 

I still don’t feel like MC is necessarily their first true love, but maybe the first different kind of love for them. MC has reached them in ways no one else has, they don’t try to change anything, they fit in well with the whole family, they understand their sins etc. I have loved a few different people in my life, and each one was such a different experience for me. The first guy i loved, i consider to be my first true love. However, it didn’t work. And then i met the man I eventually married, he wasn’t my first true love, but it was a better kind of love, yk? 

And uugghh you ripped my heart out with how the brothers would feel if MC chose a different brother!!!! Because they all would be so heartbroken it’s not them, but they really truly just want mc to be happy and cared for, and they know their brother would keep them safe and provide well. 

A few asks ago, i mentioned that the brothers would move on eventually. I think there is a big difference in moving on and getting over that I maybe didn’t articulate very well. If MC were to die or choose someone else, they would move on eventually, but they might not ever really get over it. My heart hurts just thinking about how they would feel trying to move on. Like you mentioned, the empty, quiet dinner tables, lackluster parties and festivals, it would be like they lost their best friend. (i giggled picturing your mammon scenario with the pickle because that’s exactly how he’d react to something so small lmaooo)

I also agree that i don’t think the devs will kill mc off (again), that just seems like a really crappy way to end the game!! I’m curious to see how they would make different routes go if you can only romance one of them end game, vs you being able to have them all? I wonder if we’d get a choice in the whole becoming immortal thing or not? 

Sorry if this reply was too long and rambly, i absolutely love discussing these kinds of things!! I always welcome these asks!!! 

[stupid-stew]

Boiling Rain

my finger slipped again oopsies idk if this is 100% in character but like what if eda kicked lilith out right away and ended up regretting it later

There was nothing worse than a knock on the door for Eda. Especially not in the middle of the night, during a boiling rain storm, when she was fresh out of magic, and she had a kid in the house, and there was no hooty noise to warn her beforehand. What was he up to?

Eda was still new at defending herself without her magic, but she knew her way around a bat, just ask that guy at the bar from her 20’s and his massive medical bill. Whatever she thought, laughing to herself, that jerk deserved it, no medical bill was larger than his ego. Bat in her left hand, doorknob in her right, she simultaneously swung the door open and raised the bat into a defensive position, ready to strike, that is until…

“Lily?”

What she saw before her definitely wasn’t her sister, but that was Lilith on her doorstep. Well kind of, Lilith collapsed in front of her, drenched in steaming water, clearly out of breath, nothing like the perfect prissy Lilith she knew, and what was she wearing? Where was her dress and cloak? Oh, Eda realized, that is her dress and cloak. The clothes were nearly melting off of her sister, riddled with holes. That couldn’t have made her injuries any less severe. Eda had been stuck in her fair share of boiling rain storms, even with the thick skin of the owl beast it had still taken her weeks to heal, she couldn’t even begin to fathom the state her sister was in.

“I’m sorry” came a hoarse whisper from the pile at her feet

“Lily oh my titan-” Eda dropped the bat and turned her head to yell up the stairs, hoping she was loud enough to wake her sleeping apprentice “LUZ, WAKE UP” Her head snapped back to the door frame at the movement of Lilith flinching at her loud voice. What happened to her.

Eda bent down to at least try to get an idea of the injuries her sister had suffered, but before she could get her hands on Lilith, Luz appeared at the base of the stairs. “What’s going on?” she asked, clearly still half asleep. “I need you to go up to the bathroom and grab the first aid kit, not the one in the first aid kit box, the one in the lunchbox.” Eda instructed.

Luz went to move up the stairs but suddenly snapped awake, “Is that Lilith?”

“Luz, later, first aid kit now, please” Eda responded, back turned to the now fully attentive teenager

“Got it…” Luz ran up the stairs, “...the blue or the purple one?” she shouted

Eda sighed, now that Luz was going to be here a while she should make a point to show the kid the ropes around the house “The purple one please.”

Not even a half minute later Eda had the box in her hand and was sorting through the bandages, what was she doing, she didn’t even know how badly wounded Lilith was. Eda set the supplies down and moved to touch Lilith when a pale, terribly blistered hand shot out of the mound in front of her and grabbed her wrist.

“No.”

Eda was confused and jerked her hand away “What do you mean no?”

Lilith took a couple ragged breaths before weakly responding “I don’t want your help, I don’t deserve it”

They sat there in silence for a moment before Eda remembered Luz was still behind her, “Luz, sweetie, could you go grab some blankets and maybe draw up some of those healing glyphs you’ve been working on?”

“Sure” the girl replied softly before quietly stepping back up the stairs

“Edalyn I sai-” Lilith started

“I heard you. I don’t want to hear it. You need help.”

“Not your help-” Lilith inhaled painfully “not after everything I did to you.”

“Oh for titan’s sake Lily, you think just because you made a mistake I’m going to let you lay here in pain? I haven’t even seen your face yet and I can tell you need help, mine or not.”

“No, I shouldn’t have come here, it’s all my fault, I’ll go.” Lilith moved to get up, but the burns weren’t having it and she barely got a push-up’s distance off the ground before her arms gave out.

“Are you kidding me right now? You come to my door in the middle of the night, after having gone through titan-knows-what, covered in burns, your clothes are barely intact, and you expect me to just let you leave?”

Eda wasn’t having any more of it, and reached out and grabbed Lilith’s arm, who hissed in a combination of pain and protest.

“Not on my watch sister” Eda spoke through her teeth. For someone so frail, Lilith was definitely a bit heavier than she looked, though the fact she was drenched probably didn’t help.

She managed to drag the complaining witch all the way to the couch before Luz made her way down the stairs, blankets and a stack of healing glyphs in hand.

“Kid, drop those and come help me please.”

Together they were able to get Lilith into a lying position on the couch, and for the first time see how bad of a state Lilith was in. Not an inch of the witch’s skin was spared from the rains, red blotches and boils acted like massive freckles over her whole body. While taking in the sight of her sister, Eda managed to meet the injured witch’s eyes for a split second, and what she saw scared her more than anything. Of course Lilith’s face was contorted in pain, but there was also shame and embarrassment in her eyes. If I showed up in her state I’d be embarrassed too, but did she really think I wasn’t going to help her?

“Kid can you go upstairs and grab Lilith some clothes from my dresser? Anything you think will fit her is fine, and…” Eda leaned in next to Luz’s ear and in a low whisper “could you take your time? I’d like to talk to my sister in private”

Luz looked at her with understanding “Of course, if you need anything just yell up the stairs.” She eyed Lilith one more time before retreating back up the stairs.

Eda then turned back to Lilith, who seemed unwilling to meet her eye again. “Alright. Let’s get started, you look a mess, so this might hurt a lot more than a little.”

“Edalyn why are you doing this”

Eda chuckled “Have you seen yourself, I’ve never been the best at responsibility, but I think it would make me a bad person to not help someone in your condition.”

“No Eda, I mean why after everything that I did to you, to Luz, why are you still helping me when I am the last person you should want to help, I don’t understand.”

There was a heavy silence followed by a long exhale from Eda. She didn’t respond, instead moving for the pile of glyphs that Luz had left them. “This is going to hurt a lot, and I’m not going to be able to get it all without my magic, the glyphs only do so much, but I think I can make the worst of it at least better.”

For the second time that night Eda was stopped from touching Lilith by a pale shaking hand.

“Edalyn, why?”

“Ok here’s a deal, you let me help you and I’ll tell you why in the end? Sounds fair enough?”

“You really aren’t going to budge on this are you.”

“Nope.” Eda replied, popping her lips on the last syllable.

Lilith flopped back onto her back, shutting her eyes and exclaiming at the, without a doubt, excruciating pain the impact with the couch had caused.

“Real smooth Lils”

“Oh shut it.”

Somehow the older witch’s face turned even more red through the burns and boils.

Eda managed to get through placing glyphs along Lilith’s arms and legs with minimal issue, Lilith didn’t seem to be enjoying herself very much, but even she had to admit it was starting to look better. At some point Luz had come back down with a cream colored shirt and black patchwork skirt for Lilith to change into along with some more glyphs. Eda had sent her back to bed, the kid did have school in a few hours.

“Ok, we are going to have to take off your dress so I can reach your back, looks like that’s where most of the damage is, and…” as Lilith sat up Eda caught a glimpse of her full back “there also doesn’t seem to be all that much dress left to remove. You really got caught in the rain huh?”

Lilith didn’t respond, but instead met Eda’s eyes again, which made Eda suspicious.

“Do we have to?”

“Yes Lilith we have to treat your injuries.” Eda rolled her eyes at her sister, what did she expect when she was out in the rain without protection?

Lilith didn’t look amused, instead she seemed to pale out. She pulled down the top half of her dress and rolled over onto her stomach.

Eda gasped.

Lilith’s back was covered in burns and boils sure, but what shocked Eda was the array of scratches and claw marks all over Lilith’s back, not only her back but they seemed to go up and down her whole body in varying degrees. Some of them looked healed, or on the way there, some of them fresh, some of them even seemed to be infected.

“What the hell Li-”

Was all she got out before she was interrupted

“Forest demons aren’t as nice as they seem. Ever.”

Oh. Eda snapped her mouth shut and silently applied as many glyphs as she could to Lilith’s back and upper arms as she could. Of course, Eda thought, I didn’t let her stay here, she’s got no friends outside the coven, she doesn’t look different enough to find somewhere safe from the coven guard in town, especially not with her posters lining the alleyways, she’s been sleeping in the woods. Where else would she have gone. With their mother? Any number of nights in the forest without a roof was better than one night under their mom’s.

“Thank you.” a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Huh? Oh.” Eda had been so busy thinking that she didn’t realize she had finished. “I’ll go to the kitchen to make us some tea, you can change in here, don’t worry about hooty he seems to be asleep.”

Lilith nodded and Eda made her way to the kitchen. Once the water was on the stove, she dove back into her thoughts. All these nights? I kicked her to the curb the night of the incident, it’s been at least a week, it’s rained almost every night. Oh titan, not all of those burns were fresh, that’s probably why Lilith was able to move at all, she was used to it. How has she been eating, bathing, sleeping? She’d been weakened by the splitting of the curse, could she have even defended herself? She could have come around any time- wait. Eda realized that she had told Lilith not to come anywhere near the house… ever again. That’s why she was so convinced she wouldn’t get help at the owl house. Maybe if I had been less harsh, it I hadn-

The whistle of the water being ready pulled Eda back to reality. She quickly placed the tea bags into the mugs and filled them with water and left the kitchen. When she got back to the living room, Lilith was already sitting in her dry clothes, a dim blue light escaping through the thin fabrics from the glow of the healing glyphs. Eda handed her a mug and brought her own to her lips, taking a long sip before sitting down next to her sister.

They sat like that for a while, sipping and waiting. Eventually, much to Eda’s surprise, Lilith broke the silence.

“So why?”

“Huh?” Eda replied, still deep in thought.

“Why did you decide to help me?” Lilith asked, looking into her mug as if it held all the answers “We both know I didn’t deserve it.”

“You’re right.” Eda replied simply. “You don’t deserve my help.”

Looking up from her tea and at her sister with genuine confusion, Lilith asked “So why did you help me then?”

“Let me finish. You don’t deserve my help. You cursed me, you kept your mouth shut about it for decades, until it was far too late, and in a desperate attempt to save your own ass you captured not only me, but my apprentice. My apprentice who I might as well call my own daughter at this point. You hurt her you know?”

Lilith’s eyes reverted back to her mug in shame.

“Oh yeah, she’s got bruises that aren’t even healed yet, that’s why she got looking into the healing glyphs. Plus, she faced Belos. She had to burn her only way home, she’s stuck here now. And me? I lost my magic. The most powerful witch on the boiling isles, now without the witch part.”

To emphasize her point, Eda drew a golden spell circle in the air, only for it to crumble into a pile of dust at her feet.

“Edalyn, I-”

“But,” the younger Clawthorne interjected, “that doesn’t make you a bad person, and I refuse to let it make me a bad person. I don’t know what your reasons were for cursing me, not telling me, I don’t know what Belos promised you, but it had to be pretty big to do what you did. And it’s my fault for not knowing. I kicked you out without even hearing you out, and you got hurt for it, I never even gave you a chance to explain yourself.”

It was Eda’s turn to avoid eye contact now, staring contemplatively into her now empty cup.

“It’s my fault you got hurt. That’s why I helped you. I was so caught up in my own anger that I didn’t think about the consequences of my actions. I’m still mad at you, and you’re far from forgiven, but I think you need help. Let me help you.”

For the first time in a long time, the two sisters met eyes in a moment of understanding.

“Ok.” Lilith said after a moment of comfortable silence.

“Good because I wasn’t really giving you a choice.”

They both laughed at that.

They sat for a moment, before it was finally Eda’s turn to speak first.

“So why’d you come here if you didn’t want my help?”

Lilith picked at her fingers for a moment before responding.

“I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t have anywhere else to go. It was so dark and so hot, I could barely even think, none of the other storms had gotten me this bad.”

Ah, so I was right. Eda regretted.

“It was like my feet took me here, all I knew was I needed to get out of the rain, and before I knew it I was in front of your house on my knees. I expected you to turn me away, I wanted you to turn me away.”

Eda didn’t know how to respond to that with anything other than “Why.”

Lilith thought for a moment.

“I guess I needed you to turn me away, I thought it might feel better to know that for once you would be the one leaving me in pain after 30 years of the roles being reversed, I think after all of that I deser-”

“No.” Eda interrupted. “I might not be the best sister, neither are you, but I will not ever let you suffer in any way remotely close to the way I did. Nobody deserves that, I sure as hell didn’t but neither do you. You will always have a place to stay with me, no matter how mad I am at you.”

They sat for a while longer, both deep in thought. Eventually Eda took both mugs back to the kitchen and rinsed them before going back to the living room, sitting next to Lilith one last time to help her out with the blankets.

“I think the shed is livable, the tower might be a bit too overgrown at the moment but we can work something out. You can stay on the couch tonight, no way you’re going back out into that. We can set ground rules in the morning, just try and get some sleep before the kid wakes up. She’s very excited about the new day, every day.” Eda spoke fondly.

“You really care for her, don’t you.” Lilith asked, a sad smile tugging on her lips.

“That I do. Goodnight Lilith.” Eda responded before stretching and cracking more joints than any one witch should physically be able to. “Woof, even sitting on that couch is enough to make me sore”

“I’m sure it’s just fine, thank you Edalyn, for everything. And goodnight.” Lilith said while trying to find a comfortable position on the lumpy couch. Her injuries, while significantly better, weren’t doing anything to help the situation. It wasn’t long before the soothing warmth of the healing glyphs lulled Lilith into a deep, dreamless sleep, much better than any she’d gotten on the forest floor.

Not even a few hours later, the sun shone on the owl house, waking Luz first, and if she was any quieter than normal that morning, or if she saw a certain gray haired owl lady sleeping on the floor next to Lilith’s position on the couch on her way out the door, she never mentioned it to a soul.

[baepsaesbae]

Since Day One

Pairing— Park Jimin x female reader   

Genre— college au, friends to lovers au, smut, FLUFF (this is so soft) 

Warnings— oral (fem and male receiving), sex in general but nothing crazy, Jimin being a mushy baby oof my heart melted 

Word Count— ~5.1k 

Summary— You’re best friends with the sweetest guy on Earth, Park Jimin. Of course, you’d be his girlfriend in a heartbeat if he asked. If only...

Your love life has been fruitless since...well since you were born. There’s been the occasional fling here and there, but you cut it off as soon as you realized they were only after sex and nothing more. You yearn for something meaningful with just about anyone now. If a cute boy is somewhat nice to you for even a second, you catch yourself fantasizing about going on a honeymoon with him. You were lost in your thoughts until a familiar voice brought you back to reality.

“Hello? ___? Is anyone home? Oh wow look at that super cute dog--”

“Where?” you crane your neck to look out the cafe window in hopes of spotting the dog.

“There is no dog. I just needed your attention. What do you think of this layout for the presentation?” Jimin asked.

Park Jimin has been your best friend since day one. Literally. Both your moms were best friends, so it was inevitable that you guys would be besties too. You guys attend the same University now, and even though your majors were different, you managed to get into the same mandatory elective.

“Yeah, that looks fine. Sorry, you know I don’t really care for what old white dudes had to say about, well, literally anything,” you reply.

“Neither do I. But the ancient Greeks had a lot to say about the birth of philosophy so here we are. Also if you can’t pay attention to our project, at least pay attention to me!” Jimin pouted.

Jimin has always been a needy baby, but only when it comes to you for some reason. Jimin has been a heartthrob since elementary school and proceeded to become class president starting in middle school. He won every year in a row (thanks to all the girls voting for him). Even though he won because of his popularity, he was still an extremely hardworking student. He made sure the council’s ideas were all heard and worked his hardest to implement whatever project they wanted that year. You admired-- and albeit were a little jealous-- of how perfect Jimin was. During high school, you realized you might have had a crush on him, but you quickly nipped that in the bud. Having a crush on your best friend? You couldn’t risk your friendship like that, it meant too much to you.

With that said, Jimin had always looked up to you as well. He loved the way you always spoke your mind, a trait that often got you in trouble in school. He loved the way you would apply yourself to something you’re passionate about and was delighted when you announced that you would be going to pursue your passion in art. Luckily for him, you both ended up at the same University. Jimin also loved that he knew the real you. Other people would probably say that you’re “cool” but have a cold demeanor, but he knew better. He knew that you were a huge sappy hopeless romantic, but would never tell anyone that. Anyone other than him of course.

“Yeah yeah okay you big baby. You want me to hold your hand too?” you teased, looking over the presentation one last time.

“Actually, yes I do,” Jimin smiled innocently as he plopped his hand onto the table. You rolled your eyes and took his hand anyway. He always does this. You always chalk it up to Jimin just being an affectionate guy, but what you don’t realize is that he’ll look for any excuse to be with you. He’ll do anything to be yours, but you’re too oblivious to all his tactics. Had you known that he had a crush on you, you would’ve pounced on him on the spot. But for now, you’re more than happy to call him your best friend.

“Well, I just turned it in for us. Congrats, now you have the rest of your weekend free from philosophy hell! Have any plans?” you ask.

“Not yet. But we can make plans! You wanna watch a movie at my place? We can order in and celebrate by being lazy! My roommates are gone for the weekend so we can do whatever we want. You kind of have to say yes because I already got a surprise for you,” Jimin smiled deviously.

“Oh yeah? Guess we do have plans then, I’m in. What’s the surprise?” you cock your head.

“I can’t tell you because it’s a surprise, dummy. Let me go back first to clean up a little, I don’t want you to think I’m living in a pigsty,” Jimin starts packing up his stuff.

“I’ve been over there plenty of times, I already know that you’re living in a pigsty,” you tease. Jimin gives you an overexaggerated shocked face.

“Well, then you should know that all that mess is made by my roommates. Not me. Just appreciate the fact that I care about you enough to clean up for you,” Jimin sasses.

“You care for me? How sweet! I never would have known. I’ll go back to my place and take a quick shower. I’ll text you when I’m heading over,” you shoot him a smile as you turn to walk back to your apartment.

“Sounds good! Actually, call me when you’re ready, and I’ll come pick you up,” Jimin stated.

“What? No, you don’t have to--”

“I insist!”

“I’ve walked to your place countless times. It’s fine I can--”

“I wanna come pick you up!” Jimin whines. You give in. There’s no use in arguing with him when he’s like this.

“Okay fine! See you later, weirdo,” you laugh. You wave and head back to your apartment.

Back at your apartment, you slip into the shower and crank the temperature to the sweet spot between a soothing flow of hot water and scalding your skin. The shower has always been your safe space where your thoughts could float from one cloud to the next without the fear of judgment by anyone. You wonder what Jimin could possibly have brewed up this time. He was never the type to surprise anyone, so you are puzzled as to what spurred up this novel side of Jimin. Even though your thoughts beg you to stay in the shower just a bit longer, you force yourself out and quickly pat down your body.

Although you had long since snipped the feelings you had for Jimin, the small bud still had its roots somewhere deep inside of you. You realize this as your heart sputters erratically with the thought of being surprised by Jimin. Looking in the mirror, you see your face has taken on an unfamiliar glow and excitement. It’s just platonic, you remind yourself, but the flush in your face betrayed what your mind was saying.

With your towel wrapped around you, you scan your closet for something to wear. You remind yourself that it wasn’t that serious because it was Jimin. Your day one. Your supposed “brother” figure. Just one of the guys, you remind yourself. So after a few minutes of deliberation, you decide on a t-shirt and jeans (typical). However, before you walk out the door you slip on the bracelet that Jimin had made you back in elementary school.

It was weathered now, the letters on the beads were losing their colors, but it fits onto your wrist with a familiarity that calmed you. You call Jimin, as he insisted that you should, and when he picks up any nervousness that you had felt in the shower is mellowed by the familiarity of his voice.

“___! You ready for me to come over and pick you up?” Jimin’s voice is sprightly, as if the only thing containing him from bursting was a thin film of cellophane. You smile, wondering why you ever doubted in the first place.

“Yup!” you answer, “But I’m not patient, so hurry up!”

Jimin’s car pulled up to your apartment complex promptly five minutes after you had called him, and you feel your heart do a small jig again as you still haven’t got a single clue as to what surprise he had in store for you. You slip into the passenger seat as you had done countless times before, but this time...this time felt different. Not off, just...different.

The drive to Jimin’s place wasn’t long, but for some reason, the minutes seemed to drag on for what felt like an eternity. As Jimin’s car neared the familiar facade of his apartment complex, you felt the excitement build up in your chest. Jimin parks the car and promptly makes his way to your side before you can even get your seatbelt all the way off.

“I can’t wait for you to see what I have planned for you,” his usual charm is cranked up all the way, and you blush but you try to push that softness into the platonic zone.

“If it isn’t a good surprise, you’re legally obligated to pay for the pizza tonight,” you teased him lightly. Knowing Jimin and his characteristic ways of getting everyone to like him you knew that he wasn’t one to disappoint.

Jimin dramatically wiped invisible tears from his eyes, “You do not have enough faith in me, ___.” He extended his hand expectantly, and although you were caught off guard, you quickly accept his outstretched hand. Just friends, remember? As he helps you out of his car, you feel the blush bloom into what you were horrified was reminiscent of a cherry tomato. You hope your hand wasn’t clammy, but you try to remind yourself that he’s seen the worst of you since you were a child. He can handle some sweaty palms.

After making your way to the door, Jimin steps in front of you with both of his hands up, “Hold on. You have to close your eyes.”

“Jimin,” you roll your eyes, but he made his signature puppy face that had a 100% success rate of making you yield to him. You chuckled breathily, but comply, “Alright, dummy.”

You hear the sound of the rickety wooden door open and try to overcome the urge to peek. To your surprise, Jimin’s hands are on your shoulders, and you can feel his breath on your neck. It sends your heart into another race, and you hope that he doesn’t hear the pounding in your chest. Jimin guides you into his apartment, cautious to not let you bump into anything. Finally, he stops, and his hands leave your shoulders.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now!”

When you do, your eyes are somewhat overwhelmed. His living room is decorated with little fairy lights, and little glow in the dark stars speckled his usually plain white walls. The best part, though, was the tent that was smack dab in the middle of the living room. There were pillows that paved a way towards the humble abode. You hear laughter that sounds like the prettiest of bells, and you realize that it’s coming from you.

“We always wanted to make a hideout with pillows and blankets, but we never really got around to it,” Jimin began to explain, “So I...I just thought you’d like it…”

You pounce onto him with a fierceness that almost sends him backward, “Oh Jimin, I love it so much!” His arms, though initially surprised from your attack, hug you back in a warm, familiar embrace. Without warning, you feel his lips press into the side of your face, and you freeze up for a minute. The tenderness of his kiss makes you melt, and before long you thaw up and don’t even bother to break the embrace.

“___, I have something to tell you,” Jimin whispers, his voice muffled as he snuggles his face into your hair. If your heart was racing before, now it was beating absolutely manically, but you don’t move. Could it be?

You return the affection by snuggling back into him, your heart pounding so hard you’re almost certain he could hear it, “Yes Jiminie?”

“I couldn’t choose between Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. I know you love both so I figured you can choose,” he giggled into your ear. You feel your heart deflate, but were quick to cast the disappointment aside.

“Can we pick a Studio Ghibli movie instead? I feel like that would fit the vibe better,” you hear your voice waver. You hoped Jimin didn’t notice it.

“We can absolutely do that! Great choice. Mmm, you wanna watch Spirited Away? I know that’s your favorite,” Jimin pulls away from you to venture over to his DVD collection.

You nod your head and give him a warm smile. You admonish yourself for getting your hopes up. Jimin is your best friend. He’s also such a sweetheart. Of course he would do this for his best friend. His day one bud.

Jimin puts on the movie and crawled into the tent. He wiggled his butt at you to make you laugh before turning around and gesturing for you to join him.

“Wait! Can you bring some pillows pleaaaase? I thought they’d help tie everything together as a walkway--which they totally did-- but those are all that I have,” Jimin gave you an innocent smile.

You roll your eyes at him but couldn’t suppress your smile as you launched the pillows at him.

“We can have a pillow fight after the movie! Get your ass in here,” Jimin whined.

“Coming! Wait, do you want me to get snacks first?” you ask.

“You really do not have enough faith in me. Everything we’d ever need is already here! Except for the most important thing. You,” Jimin’s lips curled into a soft smile.

“Alright you big mushball, scoot over,” you crawl in beside him. Your heart skipped a beat when he called you the most important thing, but again, you set it aside. He says these kinds of things all the time, and yet everything feels different tonight.

You sat side by side, huddled together under a shared blanket once the movie started. A wave of nostalgia washed over you as you ate your pizza topped with popcorn. Jimin thought it was gross, but you always argued that it was the most efficient way to eat during movie nights. As Haku and Chihiro made their way into the bathhouse, Jimin leaned closer to you.

“Done eating?” he whispered.

“Yeah, what’s up?” you respond, not taking your eyes off the screen.

“Can we...cuddle?” Jimin asked shyly.

“Are we not cuddling right now?” you say dryly.

“No I mean like... cuddle cuddle. I’m not really comfortable like this,” Jimin said. You look over to him and see him looking at the floor, his cheeks were barely visible in the dim lighting but you could tell they were flushed.

“Sure Jiminie, we can cuddle. How do you want me?” you ask.

Jimin pauses the movie and repositions the pillows. He lays down sideways with the pillows comfortably propping up his head.

“Come be my little spoon, y/n,” he says reaching out to you.

You smile and wiggle back into the tent to join him. You lay beside him, using his arm as your pillow (Jimin is gonna regret that later but he didn’t have the heart to ask you to move). You get as comfortable as you could in front of him, while still leaving a little gap between you two. As you open your mouth to tell him that you’re ready, Jimin wraps an arm around you to pull you into him. You let out a soft gasp as you feel your back rub up against his chest--which was surprisingly firm.

“Is this okay?” he asked, his breath tickling your ear.

“Yeah I’m good, can you see?” you’re relieved that he can’t see you, as your face heated up and was most definitely red.

“Yeah, you’re perfect.”

“What?”

“I mean, this is perfect. This uh position is perfect...I’m comfortable. Unless you’re not. Then I’m not. I mean uh--”

“Okay silly, then play the movie,” you chuckle at how cute he was.

Jimin normally never loses his charm, so hearing him stumble over his words was rare. Jimin gave you a tight squeeze after he hit play, and the two of you remained like that for the remainder of the movie.

After the movie finished, you were nearly asleep in Jimin’s arms. Spirited Away always put you at ease, since you had nothing but happy childhood memories associated with it.

“___~” Jimin softly sang in your ear.

“Whaaaaat~” you sang back.

“Thanks for coming over tonight, even though I gave you no choice,” Jimin said, nuzzling your ear.

“Of course, what are best friends for?” you giggle, he knew your ears were ticklish, “You kicking me out now?”

“Not yet. You know how I said I had something to tell you earlier?”

“Yeah, asking me to choose between Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?”

“Yeah that. That’s actually not really what I wanted to say. I mean I was going to ask you that because I really couldn’t choose but--”

“Just spit it out, Jimin,” you turn around to face him, his face just a few inches from yours. Jimin sighed and leaned closer to you, resting his forehead against yours.

“I’vebeeninlovewithyouforsolongIcan’thideitanymore,” he blurted out in one breath.

You were shocked. You didn’t know how to react. You couldn’t tell if it was relief, surprise, or excitement that flooded your mind. All you knew was that your heart was soaring. You’ve never experienced such happiness from one sentence before. You pondered all of this in silence before you realized that Jimin was looking at you expectantly. After all, he did lay his heart on the line for you.

“Say that again, but slowly. I wanna make sure I heard you properly,” you chuckle.

“Don’t tease me!”

“I’m not! I’m being serious! You became a rapper all of a sudden and I couldn’t fully understand you,” this time it was you giving Jimin puppy dog eyes.

“I said, I’ve been in love with you for so long I can’t hide it anymore. My roommates asked about us the other day, and I told them we were best friends. They all made fun of me, saying that everyone always thought we were a couple. They made me realize that I actually was, and have been, so madly in love with you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. It actually feels amazing to finally get that off my chest,” Jimin shyly looked away.

You cupped his face and responded, “Of course I feel the same way, dummy. All this time I’ve been trying to bury my feelings because I didn’t want to jeopardize our friendship. I love you too, Jimin,” you lean in slowly and kissed him tenderly.

You’ve always imagined his lips to be soft and supple. You were 100% correct.  You pull away and smile against his mouth before he pulls you back in. This time, the kiss is needier, as if to make up for all the years you guys could’ve been doing this sooner. Jimin rolls on top of you, assuming a dominant position. This time he pulls away.

“Are you sure you want to do this? Our friendship will never be the same,” he locks eyes with yours.

“You’re right. I think our friendship will be even better. As lovers. If you’ll have me,” you rest your arms around his neck.

“Of course, I’ll have you, ___. Let me show you what you’ve been missing out on all these years,” Jimin smirks as your heart beats faster and you rub your thighs together.

He bends over gently to kiss you again, but the sweetness only covers the soft hunger underneath, like a chocolate coated strawberry. Before the kiss can last long he breaks it, and you want to protest but stopped when his lips press into your neck. And then your collar bones. Your breath comes in quick spurts, and every inch of your skin is charged with electricity, like livewire. Jimin seems to hear this because he smirks and nips gently at your earlobe.

His hands gently trace your t-shirt up, and you raise your arms expectantly. He takes your shirt off in one smooth motion, and your eyes meet with his, “Are you doing okay?”

Your voice is breathy, but you manage, “Couldn’t be better.”

He smirks again and leans over you to dot your torso with gentle kisses. Then, his hands are at the waistline of your jeans, and they pause ever so slightly before undoing the button. You silently thank whatever god exists in the sky for choosing today of all days to go for the cute, lacy underwear you had gotten on sale in a lingerie store meant for women who got more action than you.

“Tell me if anything gets uncomfortable, okay?” Jimin looks nervous, and you’ve never seen him lose his composure like this. This novel vulnerability and earnest in his eyes make your chest grow warm with tenderness. You nod fervently, and he laughs into your thighs. The sensation brings warmth between your legs.

His fingers hesitate over the edge of the lacy fabric before he gently tugs your panties down the length of your legs. You can feel the ache, the need for him to lay his hands on you. Jimin kisses the inside of your thighs, murmuring, “I will always love these thighs you always complain about.” His lips linger daintily on your skin, and you try not to squirm or move, as if this moment would evaporate if you made any sudden movements.

Almost instinctively, your hand finds its way to his soft, shiny locks. You have imagined the feeling of his hair running through the space between your fingers, but no imagination could do the real experience justice. He pushes your legs apart, and you almost want to scream in anticipation.

Then his head dips into the aching place between your legs, and you feel yourself gasping in pleasure as his mouth finds its place to where you wanted him most. His tongue slowly glides over your clit, and your back arches, moving your body against his mouth. Your fingers grip his hair as if it is the thread of life, and your breath comes faster and shallower.

He chuckles, and the vibrations of the sound make you ache for him all the more. In your frenzy, you let the words slip from your lips, “More, please.”

His tongue picks up its leisurely pace to a more rhythmic motion, and just when you thought it couldn’t feel better you gasp when you feel his finger push through your entrance. His free hand rested on your torso, a cooling patch to your otherwise hot skin.  It was as if you were made only for him, and he was only made for you. The way in which you both moved brought you to a point of madness from the pleasure. As he continued, you felt the pleasure spike, climbing and climbing to its highest point.

But before you could be let off the cliff, Jimin pauses, “What do you want, ___?” His eyes stare at you with its familiar charm because knowing he was the cause of your pleasure brought back the confidence you were used to.

“I want you,” you practically whimper between pants.

He smiles mischievously, and his head and fingers return where they were, working you quickly back up to the peak. This time though, he continues his motions pushing you closer to the edge, until finally, finally you are given your release. Your release courses through your body like a storm, your body almost convulsing with pleasure. His hair is now a rat’s nest from your fingers, and he smiles into your legs continuing. He doesn’t release you until you practically scream from the stimulation, causing waves of pleasure.

Finally, he lets you go from his mouth, and his lips make a pathway up from your crotch all the way back up to your lips. You taste yourself on his lips, and you want to drown in him as his kisses grow hungrier. You finally break the kiss, and look up at him with a boldness that you had never felt before, “I suppose it’s your turn now?”

Jimin’s eyes lit up, “Only if you’re feeling generous.”

Without another word, you took Jimin by surprise as you shifted your weight to flip yourself on top of him. You pause before straddling his waist.

“I don’t think it’s fair that I’m completely naked and you’re not,” you say as you begin to tug at the end of his shirt.

“That can be fixed,” Jimin smiles as he removed his shirt to reveal his abs. You caught your breath. You knew Jimin was fit, but you never realized he looked this good.

You begin to unbutton his pants and attempted to strip them off. They were a lot tighter than you anticipated so you were struggling. Jimin couldn’t help but laugh at how determined you were as you began to aggressively tug at his legs. You tried to give him a sad pouty face, but couldn’t resist in joining his laughter. There you both were. Sitting in a tent in the middle of Jimin’s apartment. One of you completely naked, while the other was getting there with a bit of conflict. And you guys were laughing your asses off. The atmosphere didn’t feel sexy or seductive at all. Instead, you two were completely comfortable and were vibing off of that contentment.

Jimin finally helped you take his pants off, but left his underwear on. You never really understood the expression “pitched tent” in this context until now. Jimin’s raging boner stood high against the restraints of his underwear. You couldn’t help but stare at it for a second before palming it gingerly. As soon as you touched it, Jimin shuddered and let out a sigh.

“Sorry, I’ve just been dreaming about this for a while now. Hope that’s not weird…” Jimin blushes.

“Let’s see if I live up to your expectations,” you look up at him with a wily smile.

You tug at his waistband down, allowing his erection to spring free. You were impressed and a little intimidated at its sheer size. Not wanting to disappoint, you started stroking him slowly from the base all the way to the tip. You watched his face contort with pure bliss as you applied more pressure and used a faster pace.

You couldn’t hold in your lust any further. You teasingly licked the tip of his cock. Jimin whimpered in response. This peaked your intrigue, you never thought you’d hear Jimin like this. Yeah, he could be whiny on a daily basis, but you wouldn’t have imagined it in the bedroom.

With the head of his cock in your mouth, you start to swirl your tongue around it. Jimin starts to whine louder and his hands entangle themselves in your hair. Deciding not to tease him any longer, you experiment to see how much of him you can take. You can’t even get to the base of his dick without gagging. As you bob your head rhythmically up and down, you hand glides over what you can’t fit in your mouth. This seems to be working beautifully for Jimin, as his grip on your hair became more firm and his whines turned into drawn out moans.

“Oh god, ___. You’re better than anything I could’ve ever dreamt of,” Jimin groaned as he pulled you off of him, “If you keep going like that, I’m gonna blow my load way too soon. I still wanna dick you down tonight. If you want to, of course.”

“I would love nothing more. Do you have a condom? I’m not on any birth control,” you say.

“When I said this tent has everything we’d ever need, I wasn’t kidding,” Jimin beamed as he pulled out a condom from under the pizza box.

“What would you have said if I moved the pizza box for some reason?” you asked, giggling.

“I dunno. I just prayed that you wouldn’t. Either way,” Jimin pushed you back beneath him, “I’m glad I put it there. May I have the honors?”

“Go for it dude,” you stick your tongue at him. You loved the way that everything felt so natural with him.

Jimin slips on the condom before aligning himself with your entrance. He leans over to kiss you as he slides in slowly. The stretch caused you to moan into his mouth. Once he bottomed out, he slipped his hands into yours. Gazing into your eyes, he started to buck his hips into yours faster. You started to moan and closed your eyes to fully enjoy the pleasure.

“Keep your eyes on me, ___,” you hear Jimin say, “I want all of your attention on me.”

You open your eyes and smile up at Jimin. You wrap your arms around his neck and pull him closer to you. Jimin plants kisses along your neck. Your moans become more haggard as you feel a familiar knot coil within you.

“Ji-Jimin I’m close,” you pant.

“Me too, ___,” Jimin responds, his eyebrows furrowed, “Let’s finish together. Can you do that with me, ___?”

You didn’t get the chance to answer. You let out a loud cry as your high overcame you. Feeling your pussy tighten over his cock, Jimin drilled into you even faster. It wasn’t long before Jimin all met his sweet release. With one final thrust, Jimin groaned as came inside of you.

You were both spent. Jimin collapsed beside you, pulling off the condom to inspect it.

“Nice, no breakage!” Jimin cheered as he tied it up. Jimin wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in for a big hug.

“Jimin, I’m all sweaty,” you say, trying to wiggle free from his grasp.

“Oh yeah? Well so am I! I’ve been covered in worse than your sweat now anyway,” Jimin nuzzles into your neck.

“Gross! But also true,” you couldn’t help but laugh, “Jimin, you know we can never go back to what we were before, right?”

“Yeah, I know. And why would I want to? We both admitted that we love each other, I don’t see a problem. I love you, ___. I always have. And I’m pretty sure I always will,” Jimin whispers into your neck.

“Same goes for me. I’ve been head over heels for you ever since high school,” you kiss his forehead.

“I’ll do you one better. I’ve been in love with you ever since day one,” Jimin plants a final kiss before you both drift off to sleep in each other’s arms.

Published August 7, 2020. No editing, copying, translating, or reposting allowed. All Rights Reserved © 2020 Baepsaesbae.

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon back again. I had a sort of writers block for the last like 2 days which made it really hard to do some questions, but I got em done finally. Sorry about the wait. This one is split between the numbered questions, and next ask is the other questions you asked!

I think I accidentally skipped a question in the last one. I honestly don't completely remember but in case I did skip it by mistake, the groups first travel out of the city's limits and even further beyond in a carriage. When they reach the end of how far the driver is willing to go they then get out and start walking. With Jackie screaming about how their finally going on a adventure. 

1: It thankfully doesn't get to to bad before the others notice. And he immediately told them about Dream, wanting to be very clear with what happened and what they where getting themselves into. But they accepted him anyway and helped him. 

2: Isaac is the leader cause Cletus is too much of a wildcard and too impulsive to lead safely, Charles is too shy to lead, and while Benjamin is perfect for leading he doesnt really like leading and is more of a follower than a leader. But Isaac can joke around and gets along with everyone but also be able to take things seriously and know when something needs to be handled.

5: They do not, they last for a few minutes and unless its a healing or regeneration potion (in which it can take a few days for it to fully go away) they have no long lasting affects. They do know of eachothers past to an extent, they know enough to avoid triggers and enough to know what not to do when around eachother. They know through telling eachother, and they feel awful Grievous and Jackie had to deal with that, but leave it in the past and focus on making their current life better. 

6: Yes and no, while Jackie did mean to throw it at Ran, he ment for it to just hit nearby him, not directly hit him. It was ment to be more of a scare/intimidation tactic than anything else honestly. Grievous's luck is for basically everything, he has won the lottery twice before actually but only those 2 times, he's correctly guessed how many items are in a container more than a few times as well. 

7: I use the height charts and they help mostly for comparison, problem is I have trouble applying it to real world stuff and because of that I still have trouble knowing if something or someone is to tall or short. Jackie can get very mean, like he can make fun of someone who just lost a loved one or experienced a traumatic event at the worst. But he usually doesn't get nearly that mean, most he does normally is making fun of how someone looks or how they do certain things. The others comfort him the best they can when he gets sad, and when he gets mean they either encourage it (Grievous), or discourage it and stop him (Watson. Ran is between either encouraging or discouraging it).

8: He was! He spent most of his life adventuring actually! He misses it somedays now since he lives in Subbin, but he believes giving up his adventuring life for a family and friends who needed him is a more than far trade and would happily pick his family over adventuring again. For around 4 years after Ran left Mizu (including the day he left), Ran traveled everywhere, and learned how to survive himself and taught himself different things, like sewing. Ran has made new socks, fixed clothes, and made blankets for everyone at least once. Watson also designs bows and arrows for show, for top functionality, and for just simple (training) gifts to the others. Ran (and Watson) has visited the nether, though Ran tended to stay in it longer than Watson cause he could withstand the temperatures better. And while digging a new tunnel across the nether he ran into ancient debris, which he then messed with until he figured out to mix it with gold and coat his sword in it. He tried to find more ancient debris but sadly hasn't found any, leaving his sword permanently damaged and at risk of breaking. Jackie isn't good at all at painting, its more of a hobby he's trying out. They try to camp out there at least once a week, where Grievous will sometimes build a pillowfort and either force everyone inside or play a game of capture the fort with them. Sometimes Ran will also read during the pillowfort nights, but not to often. Jackie wants to vist a Snow, Savanna, Jungle,  Tagia, and if possible, a Ice Spike biome. He also wants to vist the nether but he'll have to fight Ran on that. Ran and Jackie's secondary titles are in Javanese!

9: Ran just kinda went "Hey Jackie, stand still for a second." "Ok?" And then he just picked him up and threw up. 

10: When he's first given dinner after already eaten lunch, he just kinda stares at the food. Then asks if they meant to give him food, and when the others say yes, he asks why because he thought people only ate once every few days. His answer shocked the others and they ask him to explain, and he explains futher that he was only allowed to eat and drink once every 3 days. Their horrified by this answer but explain to him how theres 3 meals a day and he can drink whenever, he doesn't believe them at first but eventually accepts it. 

11: When the fishermen first come to Ranbob about their worry, he expresses the same worry as them. But says that it's unlikely Ran will hurt the fishermen specifically, because Rans haunting are already friends with them, and Ran wouldnt risk breaking the friendship unless he deemed it necessary for their safety. 

12: Ranbob is sad that Ran goes to such lengths to avoid him and keep people away from him, but he has resigned himself to it. As he knew that if Ran was alive it was greatly unlikely that he would trust him and knew he would be avoided. Which is actually particularly why he believes Ran will never trust him again and why he views Ran as a kind of lost family member. One he'll never get back no matter what he does.

13: Their first stop is a nearby flower biome, and after that Watson has planned to lead them to a waterfall he found with a shattered Savanna somewhat close to it. They plan to travel for a minimum of 6 months, they can actually travel for as long as they want to, but Prokius made them agree that they must be back before the next General Pit Battles (which happens once every 5 years). 

14: He would 100% run himself into the ground until he's barely alive while searching for them. Benjamin compares Ranbob wanting to go back to Dream, to an abused person wanting to go back to their abusive lover. They believe they've changed and that they truly do love them and want the best for them, but in reality that's not it at all and others have to help them see thats not true and help them save themselves. So it doesn't surprise Benjamin or Isaac that much (it surprises Charles and Cletus though), and after its explained to them, their all more than willing to help Ranbob get over Dream and help him be himself again.

15: Oh definitely. Once they hear the Green-Eyed Enderman is back from hiding they all set out again, and after the group gets attacked and once word spreads that its in a group and there's another enderman with them, they all get targeted. With the Gladiators and Fishermen being targeted as bait or hostages to try to trick the enderman into following a trap. Ran wasnt affected like his brother was. Im talking about trauma and maybe even a bit of PTSD that came from Mizu, caused by Dream. Though both of the brothers have gained different amounts of trauma and PTSD from Dream. I may give the raven to either Watson or Ran, I think its fits both of them really well. I want to have them come across ruins of other Tales but im not sure which ones. Maybe they could find the remains of the Wild West Tale and the Haunted Mansion?

Glad to see you, Brothers Anon, and excited to read!

1: The perfect start to an Adventure. And a funny mental image. Imagining these two groups cramped into carriages is pretty amusing. How ready was everyone to get out by the time they could?

2: The fishermen are really great, and Ranbob is very lucky. I love them.

3: Isaac sounds like he’s a pretty good fit for it then. But nobody’s perfect! What are some flaws of his, leadership-wise?

5: Interesting. What makes Regeneration and Healing last longer? I suppose it’s not relative to the AU, but I am a bit curious. What’s the world’s potions mechanisms, if you don’t mind me asking? And that’s good! They may not know everything, but they know what to avoid, and that’s important. Everyone’s moved forward and are making the best of life, and honestly, that’s pretty cool of them.

6: Welp, Jackie, it seems intimidation tactic failed. However, you have managed to anger Ran, so..there’s that. He won the lottery? Dang. Well, if they ever need money, they can just send him to the nearest casino, I suppose.

7: Aight, so I may have a solution for you there. Whatever height you’re going for, find something in real life that’s just about the same height. Like a tree, or something. Or not, we can always just leave it at short enough to be tossed and tall enough to be the tosser. Jackie sounds like he knows where to hit to make it hurt, honestly. It’s good that they comfort him, though I am curious why they all react as they do to him being mean. Why does Grievous encourage it? And is it more of a depends on the day thing for Ran, or a depends on what was said to Jackie, and what Jackie’s saying thing?

8: Nice! What kind of places did he go? Does he have any particularly interesting knickknacks from that time period? And Ran personally sounds like he knows what he’s doing. Watson’s weapons sound really cool, where did he learn to make them? Is visiting the Nether not a common occurrence these days? Or is it simply that the others never got around to it before? Well, hobbies are always fun to try. Does Jackie keep at it and get better or get bored and try something else? How does Capture the Fort go with these guys, considering they’re gladiators? Why does Jackie want to visit those particular biomes? Is there a reason, or do they just sound cool to him? And why would Ran not want them going to the Nether? Because of the danger?

9: FDXGHJ- He just- tossed him?? No warning?? Oh my gods, I’m dying. How did Jackie react to that? Heck, how did Porkius react to that? I doubt anyone was expecting that display.

10: Oh, no. Now I really want to punch Dream in the face. What the heck, Dream?! He legit asks if they meant to give him food...If one of the fishermen or gladiators doesn’t eventually find a way to punch Dream, I will be forced to travel realities and do it myself. 

11: Kind of sad that Ranbob was equally concerned about it. But hey! He won’t have to be, one day!

12: Poor Ranbob. I hope he’s proven wrong, eventually. Do the fishermen know that he thinks this? If so, how do they feel about it? Or does he kind of just keep those thoughts to himself?

13: Flower biomes are really pretty. What did everyone think about it? Did they bring any flowers with them? So this roadtrip could possibly go on for a few years. Did they leave just after a General Pit Battle, or do they have like, less than five years? Speaking of General, is Jackie still the General in this AU? Does he have extra duties because of it? Or is that not something that happened in this AU?

14: Yikes. Reactions to this? Why does Ranbob believe Dream’s changed, as you put it? Is Dream still able to talk to him, or is it because he just misses being there? So Benjamin and Isaac aren’t all that surprised about it. Do they take the reins in helping out? And how do they all do so? It’s good that they’re helping him though.

15: Well, this sounds like it can’t end well. They try to use the hauntings as bait? Is anyone actually captured? Rescue missions? And alright, that makes a bit more sense. I can see how they’d both be effected differently, and honestly, they’d probably both have very different perspectives of the event, all things considered. Ravens for the win! And it’d be really cool for them to come across the ruins of old Tales buildings. Can you imagine the kind of things they’d find? Diaries, faded photographs, moth-eaten clothes, blood stained floors...Like a walk in the past, but they’ll never know what came to be for the people of that time.

[karliahs]

“I’ll get the jackets,” Tim says, and hopes it’s something, one more little signal for the thing he doesn’t know how to put into words anymore. If Tim is no longer a thing of easy pleasures, he hopes he can become a creature of effort - of intentional, worked-for warmth.

Jon squeezes in return before taking his hand back, his grip delicate and warm. Tim rifles through a wardrobe for two soft hoodies, paying little mind to who they belonged to - Jon was a known clothing thief who gained power from appropriating Tim and Martin’s jackets. 

By the time he’s shrugged one on and headed out into the living room, Jon is standing by the open backdoor, looking out over the heathers and hillside beyond. He looks dazed, more than anything, finding all that space stretching out in front of him, and Tim can’t tell if it’s loss or gratitude holding him there. A surge of tenderness goes through him at the sight, and Tim almost laughs at himself as he pads over to join Jon. You're going soft, Stoker, he thinks. After all that, you're going soft.

Once again, Tim sees an echo of a place they haven't quite reached: sees himself tugging the jacket around Jon's shoulders like a blanket. Instead, he hands it over and leads Jon outside to the rickety chairs. It's not hesitance holding him back exactly, and certainly not a lack of desire. It's more like…care. Care he never would have needed before.

 He drags his own chair a little closer to Jon's before he sits down, knowing Jon sees him do it, letting him note and process this intentional drawing closer. Tim used to flirt lightning-fast and joyous, instinctual, safe in the knowledge that he could fall a little in love with half the people he met, so what did rejection or awkwardness matter, really? But Jon takes things slowly these days, and Tim is relearning love as a back and forth, as goodbyes and welcomes. He is luxuriating in having time to wait and see what will come of the two of them. The three of them. 

"Martin shouldn't be long," Tim says into the silence.

"It's Saturday," Jon replies, sounding weary but fond. "He always dawdles at the markets."

"I could text him," Tim offers. "Chivy him along a bit."

Jon shakes his head. "You're…it's fine, Tim. I…I need you, too. Both of you." His voice is low and his eyes are fixed on the horizon.

from nothing sweeter than local honey

!!!! thank you for asking!! alright here we go:

“I’ll get the jackets,” Tim says, and hopes it’s something, one more little signal for the thing he doesn’t know how to put into words anymore. If Tim is no longer a thing of easy pleasures, he hopes he can become a creature of effort - of intentional, worked-for warmth.

i will try not to make this self-deprecating because that's no fun for anyone, but this is not one of my most-edited fics so my brain is already yelling SHOW DON'T TELL at me. the last thing i will say on this matter!

so much of this fic was just me thinking about what it would be like if tim got to have an after. any after. what would a good life for him look like that also acknowledges he's been fundamentally changed by his experiences - and knows that himself too, because tim's smart and self-aware

love concrete gestures in place of things you don't know how to say. 'i want you to be warm, i'll help take care of you, we're a team so i will take this if you take that'

'creature of effort' is a little bit harking back to one of my fave quotes by leslie jamison: 'I believe in intention and I believe in work. I believe in waking up in the middle of the night and packing our bags and leaving our worst selves for our better ones.'

Jon squeezes in return before taking his hand back, his grip delicate and warm. Tim rifles through a wardrobe for two soft hoodies, paying little mind to who they belonged to - Jon was a known clothing thief who gained power from appropriating Tim and Martin’s jackets.

i usually try to sort of apply critical thinking before simply adopting popular fanon into my own work but jon sims: clothing thief is GOOD and it can stay

also the small intimacies of living side by side, intermingled clothes, no longer feeling a need to insist on what exactly is mine or yours

By the time he’s shrugged one on and headed out into the living room, Jon is standing by the open backdoor, looking out over the heathers and hillside beyond. He looks dazed, more than anything, finding all that space stretching out in front of him, and Tim can’t tell if it’s loss or gratitude holding him there. A surge of tenderness goes through him at the sight, and Tim almost laughs at himself as he pads over to join Jon. You're going soft, Stoker, he thinks. After all that, you're going soft.

i like little scaps of realism among my h/c to make the comfort even juicier, and so one of the things i nitpick myself on is not having every character just look at the other person and immediately know everything that's going on in their head - which happens partly because describing expressions is hard! so that's why tim can't 100% tell what jon is feeling in this moment

i think jon is actually thinking something like: wide open exposed space in front of me, is that safe? footsteps approaching from behind, even though i know who they belong to, is that safe? do i make myself less safe, provoking those around me, by not totally believing in this safety? do i deserve safety if i can't feel its presence? am i wasting this maybe-safe time by worrying about whether or not i deserve it?

having lots of space in front of them is obvs Metaphorical. they have a future now and that's terrifying and good. what do you do when you're alive and you never expected to be. can we endure it, the rain finally stopped?

tim's thoughts there slip into a more playful cadence - he's making jokes, even just to himself - to reinforce that that hope is still there.

Once again, Tim sees an echo of a place they haven't quite reached: sees himself tugging the jacket around Jon's shoulders like a blanket. Instead, he hands it over and leads Jon outside to the rickety chairs. It's not hesitance holding him back exactly, and certainly not a lack of desire. It's more like…care. Care he never would have needed before.

again in terms of pockets of realism...a lot of times in romance things just Happen, people are just drawn in by the tide of it and find themselves doing perfect romantic things. and that's nice!! but there is something more real and kind of more romantic to me about making choices, building on small gestures, going slow because you care so much about this. you leave and then you come back, and you get them their jacket, and you hope it all says: look, i'm here, i'm trying, let's try

He drags his own chair a little closer to Jon's before he sits down, knowing Jon sees him do it, letting him note and process this intentional drawing closer. Tim used to flirt lightning-fast and joyous, instinctual, safe in the knowledge that he could fall a little in love with half the people he met, so what did rejection or awkwardness matter, really? But Jon takes things slowly these days, and Tim is relearning love as a back and forth, as goodbyes and welcomes. He is luxuriating in having time to wait and see what will come of the two of them. The three of them.

i always really appreciate characters who seem to have a genuine love of people - gregarious, high-charisma people where it stems from loving people in general

in my mind these little concrete offerings show how well tim knows jon, deep down. i would imagine jon as someone who doesn't always pick up on nuanced emotions exclusively communicated through words and prefers when there are actions to back them up, partly because that's the way he communicates himself. 'tim says he forgives me' is a lot harder to hold onto than 'tim brought my favourite berries back from tesco, tim brought me a jacket, tim could have sat further away but is choosing to be close'

"Martin shouldn't be long," Tim says into the silence.

"It's Saturday," Jon replies, sounding weary but fond. "He always dawdles at the markets."

"I could text him," Tim offers. "Chivy him along a bit."

Jon shakes his head. "You're…it's fine, Tim. I…I need you, too. Both of you." His voice is low and his eyes are fixed on the horizon.

lil realism: there are awkward silences sometimes

i don't know how to explain it but it feels so right to me that jon would use the word dawdle. and that tim would say chivy. they're dorks your honour

sorry martin is sir-not-appearing-in-this-fic, in my defence i do not like to write martin because i am not good at it. he's shopping. let him shop

love that jon here is trying to communicate the fact that he cares about them and also has some needs, sometimes. he's trying! he's had time and space in which to get to a place where he can try!

'eyes fixed on the horizon' it's the future and they have one. this whole fic is me going there's a future and they're going to be in it together, that is so simple and yet so huge that you'd need forever to get your head around it

#

[snowdice]

Little Kestrel (Actual Part 13)[Birds of Different Feathers Series]

I messed up and published chapter 14 as chapter 13. This is the actual chapter 13 and what I put out yesterday is chapter 14. I guess you get a bonus update this week. XD

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan & Patton & Virgil (future Virgil/Patton but not in this story)

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton, Virgil

Appear: Thomas

Mentioned: Janus

Summary:

It was supposed to be a quick job either way. Either Virgil would assassinate King Thomas of Prijaznia or he’d be caught and get executed. Yet, when Virgil gets the wrong bedroom and gets caught by Prince Logan and his future royal advisor, Patton, the job ends up getting way more complicated for the 14-year-old. He also ends up sleeping in a (actually pretty comfortable) closet for a few weeks…

Notes: Implied/referenced child abuse, assassination attempt, knives, torture mentioned, captivity, teenagers being really dumb

This is a prequel to Kill Dear. I wrote it 100 words at a time on my blog, but this is the edited version. If you want to see how it was crafted, look at the tag proofread stories.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 is this one Part 14 because I messed up and published that chapter first on accident.

Logan was able to quickly set up the station for making protection charms. Patton had always liked making them, though he often used his more as fun accessories than for protection. The one he was going to show Virgil how to make was a very simple low level one used for little more than to keep bugs off of yourself and, in the event of a well-made one, alert one to imminent danger by changing temperature. It was a nice thing to hold in the middle of the night if one was frightened by real or imagined threats. It would be warm to the touch when one’s environment was safe; he thought Virgil might appreciate it.

He and Patton decided to wait until Virgil woke up naturally which only took about 30 minutes. Then, Logan brought him to his set-up supplies. He explained briefly the process for making a protection charm. “I will be the one performing the enchantment for today,” he told Virgil. “I will show you how to make your own later, but I thought seeing how to make them would help with the learning process.”

“Plus, it’s fun!” Patton said.

Logan flashed a smile at him. “And that as well. I’ve prepared a small number of possible pendants for you to choose from. You can choose the shape and color, then we will put on a custom engraving, as well as decorations.”

“Glitter! Glitter! Glitter! Glitter!”

“Yes, Patton, everyone knows you’re going to choose glitter,” Logan said, amused, “but why don’t we let Virgil decide for his own pendant?”

“Fine,” Patton said, “but mine will be glitter.”

Logan grabbed the box of blank pendants and offered it to Virgil. “Choose whichever one feels right,” he suggested. Virgil moved forward and looked over the box. “You can touch them,” Logan said. “In fact, I would suggest it as it is meant to be held when it’s done, and you may as well get a feel for it.”

At his prompting, Virgil did. He reached into the box and shifted a few to the side. Eventually, he started picking a few up. “I like the crescent shape for holding the most,” he said, holding a blue one up, “but I don’t know.”

“What’s your favorite color?” Patton asked.

“Oh, um,” he mumbled. “I dunno.”

“Well here,” Patton said, reaching for the box. He dug through it and pulled out every single crescent moon shaped pendant and lined them up. “What do you fancy?”

Virgil considered them all for a long moment and then tentatively pointed the purple one out.

“Great!” Patton said. “Then, we’ll use that one.”

Virgil nodded and Patton picked up the pendant to drop it into his hands. His fingers curled over the shape and he seemed satisfied by the choice, so Logan turned to Patton. “Your turn,” he said.

Patton happily grabbed out a heart shaped blue one, but then paused and exchanged it for a purple one. “We match!” he said.

Virgil smiled slightly at his enthusiasm, and Logan dug out a blue crescent moon shape for himself. “Now that you have your base, you get to choose the engraving.” He opened up the instruction book to the correct page and showed it to him.

Virgil looked over the two pages of designs with careful focus. He wavered between the spiral sun and the flames for a moment, but eventually settled on the flames. Patton chose the interlocking hearts design as anticipated; it was his favorite, and Logan chose the spiral sun design for himself.

“Now, I’m going to engrave this design onto yours,” Logan said getting out the thin pen like instrument and dipping it into the slightly glowing bottle of potion he’d set out. “In the meantime, Patton will show you what we have for decorations.”

He was careful to get the symbol as perfect as he could and then started on Patton’s. Patton apparently managed to corrupt the boy because both of them came back with brushes and glitter to add as decoration.

Logan shook his head and handed them their freshly engraved pendants. “Apply the glitter how you like,” Logan said, moving on to his own engraving. Once he was finished, he selected some glow in the dark paint to decorate his own.

Once he’d finished decorating his own pendant, Logan looked up. “Are you finished?” he asked.

“Yep!” Patton said, shoving his pendant at Logan while Virgil nodded. Virgil had been far less enthusiastic than Patton, having carefully brushed glitter into the flame design only whereas Patton had haphazardly covered his own all over with glitter. Logan took both pendants.

“This,” Logan said, bringing over a different potion, “is used to make sure the decorations never fall off. It basically allows the other substances to become a part of the stone. “It isn’t too dangerous, but I’d suggest you stand back for the moment.”

Virgil stepped back farther back than was strictly necessary and gave the potion bottle a wary look. Logan moved all three pendants to the prepared surface (else they ran the risk of also getting stuck to the table) and put on gloves, having learned that magically gluing rocks to ones hands was not fun years ago. Then, he carefully drizzled a bit of the potion onto each rock. The rocks fizzled loudly, and Virgil gave off a startled yelp before toppling over flat on his face with his wrist glued to his sides.

“Oh no, honey,” Patton said immediately crouching next to him. “I’m sorry. We should have warned you about the noise.”

Logan wasn’t sure what type of action he’d tried to take when the sound started up, but whatever it was, it had caused him to move his arms fast enough that he’d activated the binding potion and it snapped his wrists to his side, overbalancing him.

Patton’s hands hovered over the startled boy, but he didn’t touch. After a few moments, it was clear that the magic keeping Virgil’s hands at his side released because his hands slowly crept forward to push himself up, so his face wasn’t planted against the ground. His eyes still looked incredibly startled.

“Are you alright?” Patton asked.

Virgil blinked. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said.

Logan took his words as permission to move without risking startling him more. Virgil’s eyes bopped back and forth between him and Patton a few times as he crossed to his wall of potions and grabbed one.

He also selected a clean cloth from a basket on his way over to them. “A light healing potion,” Logan explained as he knelt in front of Virgil. He uncorked it. “May I?”

“I’m fine,” Virgil said with a frown. “I’m not even bleeding. It’s barely anything.”

“Which is why it’s a light healing potion,” Logan said. “You are sure to bruise with the way you hit. This will prevent it and make it stop hurting.”

“Okay,” Virgil agreed after a moment. Logan dribbled a bit out onto the rag. After a moment of thought, he touched the damp part of the cloth with his own finger, just to quash any fears that it would harm him.

“It will tingle slightly,” Logan warned. Virgil tilted his head to let him dab it onto his nose and the light scrape on his face. His nose scrunched up and he moved to rub the sensation away quickly only to have his arms slam back to his sides.

Patton caught him so the sudden involuntary movement didn’t cause him to fall back, and then giggled when Virgil titled his head to what could only be described as pout back at him.

“Aw, poor thing,” Patton cooed, reaching forward to rub a hand across the top of his nose and then his forehead where the potion had been applied for him.

“Better?” Patton asked.

“You’re really bad at this being captors thing,” Virgil commenting, willingly leaning back into Patton. Patton just smiled happily.

Logan took the bottle and got to his feet, before returning it, and then glanced at the pendants as Patton helped Virgil to his feet. The pendants had stopped fizzing, so Logan felt okay reaching in and grabbing them all.

He handed both Patton and Virgil their pendants when they walked closer to the table.

“And now for the actual enchantment,” Logan said. “For today, I already prepared the potion up to the last step as it has to sit for a few hours, but I will show you the last step and eventually teach you everything if you are still interested.”

Virgil nodded, but said. “No more noises?”

Logan smiled. “No more noises,” he confirmed. Then he pushed forward all of the ingredients he was about to put in the pot for Virgil to study one by one before putting them each in it in the correct order. Then, he demonstrated how to stir it correctly and told him how many times, though he doubted he’d be able to retain all of the information from this one demonstration. “There,” he said, setting down his spoon. “Now we just all put our pendants into the pot, and they should be ready in 25 minutes.”

Logan showed Virgil around his potion’s lab while they waited, explaining what certain pieces of equipment did and a bit about his organization system. Virgil followed him around, looking at the things he pointed out curiously. He, however, got very distracted when Logan showed him one of the experiments he’d concocted. It was a thick liquid that was super attracted to itself and would form a small ball that could be disturbed by touching it. He seemed to like the sensation of squishing it down onto a table… over and over and over again.

“We should get him a ball of yarn,” Patton said out of the corner of his mouth. He may have been enjoying watching Virgil play with the substance more than Virgil was enjoying playing with it himself. And that was saying something.

Eventually, however, the pendants were finished, and he dragged Virgil away from his new toy to show him the finished product.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“Is it supposed to be warm?” Virgil inquired.

“Yes,” Logan replied. “It’s temperature changes based on if the magic on it senses a threat or not. Warmer temperatures mean you are safe.

“Oh,” Virgil said softly, hand squeezing around it. “I like it.”

Logan found himself smiling. “I’m glad. It’s yours.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“If you would like, I’m sure Patton has some suggestions if you’d desire a way to keep it attached to your person. He in particular likes to make them into necklaces or clip them to his clothing.”

Virgil looked over at Patton and nodded shyly. Patton immediately perked up. “I’ll go get some supplies!” he said.

Want to read more? Click below!

AO3 Part 14 Part 15

[far-side-skies]

Storm Hawks Bird OC Challenge - July 2023

Hey all! Welcome to the next bird challenge! This month we're looking at the Victoria crowned pigeon (Goura victoria). I was actually torn between this and another bird right until the last minute, but this one won out because I discovered it first and have actually seen it in person at London Zoo. The other bird can get the spotlight next month.

Image from Wikipedia.

Named after the British monarch Queen Victoria, the Victoria crowned pigeon is known for its distinct white-tipped crest and the 'whooping' sounds it makes during the mating season. Its habitat is located in the lowland swamp forests of New Guinea, and they often travel in pairs or groups of three together.

The deadline this month is Wednesday the 26th of July. As always, rules and an optional colour palette can be found under the cut.

Minimum requirements for drawn entries to be put in the winner’s vote are a name, occupation, the character’s home/birth Terra and at least one paragraph (or about 100 words) of written backstory.

Minimum requirements for written (i.e. written dossiers without art, or mini-fics for the character) are 500 words including backstory and appearance. Feel free to make a mini-fic out of this challenge, I’ll make sure to link it with the final collage as well.

Entrants who are part of the Storm Hawks discord server will have the chance of getting a custom role for the next month! If you’re not part of the discord server, please ask for an invite if you’re interested.

You’re not expected to create a character from scratch for this challenge. If you’ve got an older character concept that’s been collecting dust or that you’d like to take the opportunity to revamp, feel free! The goal of this challenge is to inspire people.

Collaborations are allowed! Same rules apply, the only addition is that you and your partner(s) just need to make note of who was responsible for what part of the character

Make sure to tag me in your entries and also DM me with a link to your entry. Tumblr is not always reliable about notifications for this sort of thing, and I don’t want to risk missing anyone’s entries, so better safe than sorry.

The group collage of entries, and the winner’s vote are opt-in. Participation of those parts of this challenge are not mandatory.

The winner of the vote will receive a free sketch piece of their character from me.

[shigarakis-fifth-hand]

Shigaraki x Todoroki! Reader; The Mask

Enjoy the series! one two three four five six seven

After shooing Toga and Twice to bed, Kurogiri and you slaved away over the two guys in the LoV lounge in a comfortable silence. You worked on Shigaraki on the couch, applying creams, anti-bacterial gels, and of course bandages to his terrible wounds that went up and down his leg.

You were so happy that his pulse was stable, and that he was just sleeping. You weren’t happy that you had to strip him of all his bloody clothes and keep him in his boxers only to treat the wounds on his chest and upper thighs, but it was more than necessary for his wounds. 

“So, how did he react to seeing your face?” Kurogiri asked, causing you to drop the bandage into your lap. “H-how did you know about that?” You asked, turning to see him, his attention not adverting from your heavily beat up brother.  Nothing some ice couldn't fix, but Kurogiri insisted on watching him throughout the night to make sure nothing bad happened, and that he kept breathing through his sleep. 

“Oh dear, I had to remove the mask to apply the anesthesia the moment you came in. Of course, at that time, I was the only one besides your brother to know your identity. I’ve known from the very beginning.”

You looked at Kurogiri with wonder in your eyes as he glanced at you. “Don’t worry dear, you and his secrets are safe with me. I was the one to help D- ahem -Touya with his bruises from your father as well. Of course, when I found out that Touya was Endeavor’s son, I was skeptical of course, being the 2nd pro hero’s son after all. But after hearing the way that Endeavor treated you poor kids, I knew that he had no thought of betrayal. That was years ago, possibly 10 by now. When Dabi gave me that look when he brought you in, and I saw your bruises and burns, goodness... I had no doubts you would be just as promising as your brother.”

You smiled warmly at Kurogiri, and returned back to fixing up the poor man laying before you. “Tomura, well... honestly, he tried to kill me at first. It was almost as if he was scared of me, the way he backed away from me and threatened to kill me if I stepped closer to him.” You explained as Kurogiri nodded, listening intensely to your words that he deeply understood. “But then, he brought my mask to my face and I think he truly understood that I wasn’t a stranger. He was just now learning my identity, but he knew me. That’s when he collapsed.” You looked over at Kurogiri, looking for answers. 

“I knew that something like that would happen. I’ve known Tomura since he was young, and he has terrible betrayal issues. I do believe that his greatest fear is that the people he trusts will betray him, and in that moment, he must have felt that. Do not take it personal though, at least he came around in the end. Tomura has become very... how do I say it... attached to you in a personal state. Something I’ve never seen before. When you wore the look of an enemy, he must have been freaked out.” Kurogiri came around the couch and stood before you, a sort of smile hidden in his voice.

“He cares for you dear, as we all do. I promise you, it will take time, but I do believe he could fall in love with you if you wanted him to. Now excuse me, I’m going to go fetch us more ice from the ice chest in the basement. I’d wake up Tomura and check on him to see how he’s doing. I’ll be right back.” Kurogiri patted your head and walked away, leaving you and Tomura on the couch. Sighing, and preparing for the worst, you slowly shook him awake.

Tomura opened his eyes to seeing your face hidden by a mask, and sighed happily, allowing you to help him sit up. “H-how are you doing?” You asked nervously as he looked at your one eye, finding fear in it. He took a moment to remember the last seconds before he had passed out, and his eyes widened. Grabbing your mask and ripping it off, he proved his memories correct as he stared at your worn out, beat up, beautiful face. God, how were you still gorgeous after all that had happened?

“Never better.” He began to smile, still shocked as you grinned nervously. “I’m guessing you have questions... and I understand that. Ask me anything, anything at all! I swear on my life I’ll answer 100% truthfully.” Shigaraki looked at you, a smirk hidden in his eyes.

“So... tell me... Explain to me why... you’re you I guess. Why would Little-Miss-Perfect go edgy?” Shigaraki told you as you blushed before bringing your eyes back to make contact with his. “I... my dad, he hits us kids a lot. Like... too much if you get what I’m saying. One day he hit me too hard and I snapped. I killed a few guys, and I realized that murder was the only way to be able to release all my anger. I tried to stop myself, but if I didn't kill someone, I knew I would snap. I mean, I had to be Little Miss Perfect all the time, so I had to release my anger some way. Eventually, I got a mask and decided to make a name out of myself and my new hobby.”

Shigaraki’s eyes almost shined as you continued to talk to him, finally feeling like he was getting to know you, the one thing that he had desperately wanted. “Anyways, when Dabi found me, my dad had stabbed me with this small knife he had in my hip on one of the burns he gave me when I was younger, and I ran outside because I saw you all. Dabi saw me, and I guess he took pity on me and helped me since he recognized my mask as a villain’s.” When you were done, you looked up nervously at the smiling man next to you, before he began to frown. “Wait, your dad is Endeavor. He... hit you?” Shigaraki asked, now very worried for you. How could someone ever lay a finger on your adorable self?

“Yea, like... a lot actually.” You pulled your sweatshirt down to reveal your shoulder blade, a large purple bruise on it. “That one is from when I snuck out to go to a party. When I got home, he purposely shook the ladder I was using and I fell onto the pavement from two stories high. He didn’t even help me, and left me out there all night in the cold rain with a fractured arm.” Shigaraki stared at the bruise, and then at your lips, as if he could see the past that you were describing to him. “I’m... I’m so sorry, I had no idea.” He murmured, feeling regretful and guilty.

“H-he put a blade in my shoe once at Shoto’s birthday party when he was mad at Shoto. He hot glued a blade to the edge of my shoe and made me walk around with it in my for four hours straight, but after two hours I passed out and was sent to the family doctor. Shotie told me after that Shoto had threatened to take me away from my father, and then my father did that to prove that he owned me. My father never intended to let me leave his watch until he died, since all of his children that left the house had rebelled against him, or in his words, “disobeyed and became rebellious souls”.

By now, you were weeping as you remembered the thousands of traumatizing memories involving your family. You showed Tomura the bottom of one of your feet to reveal lines where you had gotten stitches. “H-he made me keep the shoes just as a reminder to never rebel against him, and to show me that he owned me.” Before Shigaraki could react, you pulled him close and buried your face into his chest. In response, Shigaraki pulled you close, focusing on keeping his pinkies far out. At this point he might as well cut one of them off.

“And... I remember when I was young and my parents were arguing and I saw him punch my mother to the ground. I made the mistake of yelling at him to stop... I can’t forget it, how my mother was screaming, begging him not to hurt her angel as he walked towards me, grabbed me with one of his hands, and burnt my hip. I remember the pain, how I passed out from it. He dropped me to the ground on my head, and then left me. My mother had to get up and bring me to the family doctor to get treated, and it scared.” You brought up your sweater to reveal the large burn mark on your hip. 

Without controlling his hands, he brought four of his fingers to touch the distant mark on your smooth skin. Anger was boiling through him at this point. How dare someone make such marks on your perfect body. You began sobbing into his shirt before he tilted your chin back with his finger to make you look at him. “Hey, he can’t hurt you anymore. I’m not going to let anybody hurt you like that ever again on my watch, and that’s a promise.” He assured you as you gave him a small smile before nestling you face into his shoulder, finding peace snuggled up with him.

“Where’d Kurogiri go? I could swear I heard his voice somewhere in my sleep.” Shigaraki asked as you grinned, still nestled into his shirt. “He went to get ice chest from the basement, after he recommended that I wake you up.” You explained before beginning to fall asleep on top of the guy below you. Shigaraki smiled at the thought of you finding security with him, before almost snickering out loud. There wasn’t an ice chest in the basement, it was in the kitchen. Kurogiri was one sneaky bastard.

As Shigaraki began to comb his fingers in your soft white hair, he found himself being overcome with his thoughts. You both knew that it was dangerous for him to touch you with his destructive hands, but you still let him. If anything, you encouraged it. Shigaraki couldn’t help but remember what Chisaki had said to him, and he frowned, glancing sadly at you. He hated how your father, someone who was supposed to love you, had hurt you, and him, someone who could very possibly hurt you, loved you. Such a scenario caused you to always be at risk, but Shigaraki knew deep down in his heart that he’d never hurt you.

But accidents happen, don’t they? Of course, he never would intentionally, but what about an accident? No, Shigaraki wouldn't allow himself to think such thoughts that struck true fear in him. You needed him, and if it was just pulling you closer or running his hands through your hair, Shigaraki would allow himself that pleasure. You were starving for love after all, and he knew that he could help you. He had already fallen for you, might as well go full out and fall in love with you.

Shigaraki found you interesting, mysterious, and even more intriguing now though. You weren’t just some stranger villain girl with a nice voice, but the daughter of the top pro hero in the world who had turned to the dark side of life. You had been through abuse, trauma, and now near kidnapping. And yet, he knew that you had one of the most innocent and kind souls. You had helped him when cut his finger on glass, and then saved his from Chisaki. He owed you his life, so the least he could do was let you rest on his chest if it brought you peace.

Little did Shigaraki know that you found him a stress-reliever, so matter if he had threatened to kill you earlier that night. Each breath he took was a reminder of his arms wrapped around you, and each thumb of his heart told you that it would be okay in the end. God, you were in love with this man, and yet all your nervous little heart could do was lay on his chest. 

As you looked up to look at his sleeping face, you caught him looking down at you, expecting you to be asleep. Blushing and without control of your bodies, he pulled you closer as you two drew to a long kiss. It was sweet, warm, and so comforting. Smiling, you kissed again and again before swinging your arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms tighter around your body, and you fell asleep on his chest finally, noticing how his heart beat had picked up immensely.

The time came to be ten am when you woke up, seeing that Shigaraki was still asleep. You smiled, remembering the past night before slowly getting up, removing yourself from his tight grip around you. You kissed his nose before going to the kitchen, jumping to see Kurogiri watching you. “Good morning Shiro. I’m guessing you slept well.” Kurogiri nodded your way as you smirked at him, realizing that he saw you kiss Shigaraki. “Why yes I did actually, what did you do all night?” You asked, remembering that he didn’t sleep. “Oh nothing much, just made a grocery list for Dabi and caught up on emails.” You looked on the counter to see a paper filled with items to get from the store.

“How about I get it? Toga and I can go! I haven’t left this place except for that terrible meeting last night.” You explained as Kurogiri pondered it. “Hmm, I guess you do stand out a little less than Dabi with no scars showing. If we add some makeup I’m sure you’ll be unrecognizable. Toga is asleep though, do you think you can handle it?” You nodded in response, smiling as Kurogiri pulled out a black ball cap for you to tuck your hair into, and handed you a scarf to wrap around the lower part of your face. “Lastly, I think you’ll need these. Those eyes are unforgettable.” Kurogiri joked, handing you colored contact lenses the shade of grey. You smiled sadly, reminded of Shoto. Was he worried about you?

“You alright dear?” Kurogiri asked, seeing your sad face as you put in the contacts. “Oh yes, I just miss my brother. I wish I could see him and tell him I’m alright, I know he would be okay with me going away. At least I would be safe, which is what he’s always wanted for me.” You explained as Kurogiri handed you the list, and gestured to the black jacket that Toga wore on her adventures out. “I’m sure you’ll see him eventually. Luck seems to be on your sides more times than not.” Kurogiri responded happily as you nodded, heading for the door.

You walked outside, through a few of the alleyways, and then out into the busy streets to the farmers market in the center of town. With the hustling of all the people around you, and the baseball cap hiding your hair with the scarf hiding the lower part of your face, you felt hidden from the world like a spy. You giggled at your own childish thoughts before turning a few of the streets, keeping your head low. It was true that you blended into the outside world like a charm, something that you had been nervous about.

As you finally entered the Farmers Market, you began shopping, enjoying the confrontation with other humans who had no idea who you were. It gave you the same comforting feeling as when you wore your villain mask, as to be hidden from the world with no way to trace your identity. Your bag began to fill with everything from the list, happily using your own cash to pay for everything. You had all the money someone could want stored at home, easily counting to a million in the handfuls of hundreds that you had stolen from your father over the years, and keeping it in your own personal backpack compartment.

You began to leave, before your eyes caught someone familiar from a far. It was your brother, stapling a missing poster to the lamppost nearby. You smiled, going to talk to him.

~~

Shigaraki woke up to see that you weren't on top of him. He immediately sat up worried, looking around for you but not seeing you. Kurogiri was washing dishes, Dabi was eating cereal, and the two teenagers were laughing about something in the paper. “Where is she?!” Shigaraki asked frantically as Dabi smiled, liking seeing the man frazzled over his sister. “She went to the Farmers Market, do relax. She said she’d be back by ten.” Kurogiri explained as Shigaraki grew nervous. “You’re okay with this?! I thought you were protective of her!” Shigaraki yelled at Dabi as he rolled his eyes. “I am Crusty, but us three just woke up a few minutes ago. She left around eight.” Dabi explained as Shigaraki sighed frustratingly, turning to the tv to see the news.

It was the same thing, just Endeavor being interviewed alongside two other pro heroes Eraserhead and Present Mic, except now one of his sons was joining them. “Ahh, that’s Shoto Todoroki. He’s the one that Shiro is closest to, she told me about him. He was the one who wanted to take her away from their father.” Kurogiri commented as everyone listened to what Shoto was saying. “And what are you doing to help cope with your sister’s disappearance?” The interviewer asked the white-and-red-haired boy as he wiped a single from his cheek. “Ahh, I can only hope we find her. My father has promised that once she is found, she will come live with me and be able to live a few weeks and detox with Izuku and I. Daily, my boyfriend, my fellow friends and pro heroes, and I are looking for her. Like this morning, we are all going to the Farmers Market that Shiro and I used to go to when we were young to hang up posters and ask around about her.”

Immediately everyone turned to Kurogiri, immediate worry and fear in their eyes. “Oh god, she’s at the Farmers Market. It says that this interview was pre-filmed, that means he could be there now!” Kurogiri ran to the door, looking out to see no Shiro walking back. “He’s going to recognize her immediately, and she’s going to get caught.” Toga whispered to herself, grabbing her coat from the couch and beginning to put her shoes on. “They’re going to take her into custody, I just know it.” Twice muttered as Kurogiri punched the counter, receiving a surprised look from everyone.

“Shiro told me that Shoto has wanted his young sister to come live with him forever to escape the abuse. She won’t be able to explain to him that she enjoys it here, he won’t understand.” Kurogiri explained as a single tear wiped down Dabi’s cheek. “She’s... gone?” Dabi asked, leaning against the counter and beginning to cry. “Not yet! She’s not gone until we say she’s gone! Now pick yourself up, and let’s go look for her.” Shigaraki insisted, grabbing a hat, hoodie, and his shoes. 

The gang made their way down the streets, splitting up to search everywhere and not seem so suspicious. Behind dumpsters, in the streets, and even behind the market stands. They simply couldn’t find her anywhere. Shigaraki began to lose hope, only imagining the worst. By six pm that night when things began to get dark, Kurogiri forced the gang to regroup. “If she turns up on the news, we will know. If she finds her way back to the lounge, we will know. For now, let’s just... try to relax.” As Kurogiri turned to lead them back to the Lounge, they couldn't help but feel so anxious. Especially Shigaraki, who felt as if he were going to drop dead or start balling that very second.

His girl was gone, just as he had finally gotten a kiss from her. The five made it back to the lounge, walking through with a sad look on their face. Suddenly, a certain smell made them run to the kitchen. There stood Shiro, her earbuds in, her hair damp and curly, and wearing one of Shigaraki’s long shirts that went to her thighs. She was cooking, and dancing at the same time, pretending that a spoon was a microphone. “Shiro!” Twice screamed, running to her and wrapping his arms around her, causing her to almost fall to the ground. “Oh my god, you’re okay!” Dabi was second to run and grab her, giving her a bone-crushing hug.

“I knew you’d be okay! I just knew it, you’re too smart to let them take you!” Toga wrapped her arms around your waist, lifting you up off the ground before lowering you. Kurogiri patted you on the head, ruffling your hair. “I’m so happy you’re okay kiddo, we were worried.” He explained as you smiled back, before turning to Shigaraki who just stood there, staring at you. Back in his dream, he had seen you wearing one of his shirts like you were doing now, and you looked just as sexy. “I... I didn’t think that I would ever see you again.” He whispered, his voice hoarse from trying not to cry. “Aww, you poor thing.” You whispered back, running to hug him tightly, standing on your tip toes. Shigaraki didn’t hesitate with he hugged you back, loving the feel of his body against yours.

“Gosh I told Kurogiri I would be back by ten, why were you guys so worried?’ You asked as everyone stared at you, unable to believe the situation in front of them. “We saw your brother say at the interview that he would be looking for you at the Farmers Market, so we came after you.” Shigaraki explained as Toga sat up on the counter, loving to watch you two creepily. “Did you see him? Did you see any of the other pros?” She asked as you nodded your head yes, thinking about your interaction with your brother.

You began to leave, before your eyes caught someone familiar from a far. It was your brother, stapling a missing poster to the lamppost nearby. You smiled, going to talk to him before his boyfriend walked next to him. “I was thinking, where do you think she is? Your father has already raided seven villain bases, and there’s not a trace of her anywhere.” Deku explained as Shoto sighed, nodding. “I know, it’s so frustrating. I know she’s hiding from him, and he’s doing everything in his power to find her. I just... I hope he doesn’t find her, because he’s going to make her life a living hell.”

You stepped back, surprised by your brother’s comment. He was right, you father would never let his eyes off of you ever again if he found you. Not to mention, he knew secretly that you had run away from him, not kidnapped. He had hurt you, and you had run as far as you could from him. “S-Shotie.” You squeaked as Shoto and Deku slowly turned to see you, their eyes as wide as possible. “S-Shiro?” Shoto responded, his eyes full of happiness and surprise. You ran into his arms, only to be hugged back by two guys in return. Deku had always been a friend to you.

“Maybe we should take this in the alley. Come.” Deku led you two to the nearby alleyway, before ruffling your hair. “God, you’re okay! I knew you would be! I mean, Shoto was more calm than I was because I thought you were kidnapped and he thought that you were safely just hiding but I knew you were alive!” Deku rambled as Shoto hugged you tightly as if he never was going to let go. He glanced in your hand to see a grocery list. “I knew it. I knew you were hiding from him. What did he do this time?” Shoto asked as you sighed, beginning to explain everything.

“He stabbed me with that small army knife he carries around, right in my hip.” You explained as the two guys looked surprised once more. “The burned one?” Deku asked as you nodded, receiving a gasp from the green-haired hero. “So I ran out and saw some... people nearby who I asked for help. They took me in, and right now I’m living with them. It’s really cool, because last night this guy who I really like kissed me and I slept on top of his chest. There’s the butler guy, and this girl who’s my age and this guy who’s a bit older who’s besties with me and the girl, and then the other guy who I like is really hot and he kinda runs the whole group.” 

You explained, not wanting to give any of the villain details. “God, I’m so happy to see that you’re okay. You have no idea what Dad’s been doing. All of our house’s have been implemented with security cameras so he can see if we are hiding you. He’s also been having heroes like Hawks and Eraserhead and Present Mic all look for you. I told all of my friends not to look for you, but we have to say that we are on tv or else he will get mad.” Shoto took you by the shoulders, giving you the death stare.

“Shiro, whatever you hear on tv, please know that it isn’t true. Dad has no idea where you are, none of your siblings or my friends are looking for you, and he will never stop looking for you. Don’t trust anyone except your siblings, that group, and my friends. Got it?” Shoto asked as you nodded, smiling at him. Deku and Shoto hugged you once more, before beginning to walk back to the alley. “Oh, and Shiro?” Shoto called out as you turned to look at him. “Um, I’ll be here every Saturday if you want to... catch up. I can bring you money or like, something from home if you want me to.” Shoto smiled softly as you nodded before walking away and past the corner back to the Lounge.

“Wow! Your brother was lying, he’s really good!” Toga exclaimed happily, still overjoyed by your safety and security. “Yes, too good. If only he hadn’t of mentioned the Farmers Market, we might have been able to have lunch.” Twice smiled as you turned to the stove, revealing a pot full of noodles and a yellow sauce. “Sun dried tomatoes, some weird leaves I found in the fridge, cheese, noodles, and chicken! Bone apple teeth!” You smiled, returning to the stove to continue stirring it. “You mean the spinach?” Kurogiri asked as you nodded, giggling. Dabi rolled his eyes, remembering how his father forced every child to learn how to cook, but never the names of anything besides poisonous leaves and meat.

“Looks good.” Shigaraki murmured, hugging you from behind and not letting go. “Thanks, I’ve had a few hours since y’all have been gone for so long. I’m surprised I remembered how to make it, my mom used to make it all the time though. It might not be as good as hers, but the chicken is perfect and the sauce is soooo good. You wanna try it? I promise, the recipe is so g-” You were interrupted by Shigaraki lowering how hands from your waist to your ass, squeezing it strongly. “I wasn’t talking about the food.” You felt a blush creeping to your face slowly as your attention turned from the food to Tomura.

taglist: @debbiehehe @pnkcts @league-of-bnha @lilcura1209 @x-a-delama-x @bish-ima-clown @axerrri @fearsome-perfect-beauty-eren @kneecapstealingalien @bunniwritesx

[marvel-download-tutorial]

How to Download Marvel comics for free!

I’ve been thinking about writing this for a while especially since we’re all stick inside but last week Marvel made the shitty decision to transition various print titles to digital only, meaning they’re directly taking revenue away from local shops rather than delay the titles, so since Marvel thinks digital comics is such a cool idea I’m gonna show you how to download as many as you’d like! (oh also this is for windows only, idk how to do it if you own a mac but also you’re rich anyways so who cares buy the comics richie)

I don’t want to take money away from the people that need it, not the actual companies of Marvel and DC fuck them they’re dying and they deserve it, but for my own rationalizing I want to take a minute to plug the Hero Initiative, basically what it is an organization that provides for comic creators that are having hard times, comics are a rough industry and you don’t get into it to get rich, I won’t go into it too much you can read for yourself but it’s been endorsed by Stan Lee, Justin Ponsor, Mike Grell, Skottie Young, Rags Morales, a lot of big names, so I’d ask if you do follow this guide and download some comics for free please consider donating to the Hero Initiative (they also sell autographed prints and you can commission some really famous artists)

anyways onto the good stuff! I’m going to be doing a fairly brief but easy to follow guide, there will be links at the bottom of the post so look for those, I’ll probably be making a few other posts with some more info so also check back for those if my blog is still here

What do I need?

You’re going to need 4 basic things if you want to do this as easily and safely as you can 

1) a good anti-virus

2) anonymous web browser (Tor)

4) a safe and reliable source for the comics

4) a torrent program to download the comics

Also optional: VPN

Anti-Virus 

it’s good to remember when torrenting that no one is your friend, everyone is out to trick you and no one cares, honestly you should also have a good anti-virus though, I’m not really gonna tell you which one you should have but Norton 360 is pretty good but say that in a room of CS majors is the quickest way to start a fist fight, honestly just google it, you’re gonna have to do some research, but really you’re good as long as you don’t go with Avast or Kaspersky, I’m going to go over typical tricks and traps later to ensure safety, this is just basic overall security thing

Anonymous Web Browser (Tor)

next we’re gonna download Tor (you can do this before getting a VPN, like I said either one is going to put you on a list but using one to cover you getting the other at least mitigates it lol) Tor is a great open source project that allows for basically complete anonymous web browsing, it’s a project dedicated to privacy and disruption of corporations ability to control every aspect of our lives, also a friend of mine bought K off silk road with it once in highschool, really not too much you need to know about it before using it, just download it, let it configure and you’re good, also use Duck Duck go that it comes with, don’t switch it to chrome or anything, Duck Duck go is anonymous search service which better lends to Tor’s protection

Where to get the torrents

Now this is really important because you can have everything else set up but without a safe reliable source none of this is gonna do any good, but this is the dangerous part, torrent sites are notorious traps (I bricked more than on family PC on limewire) and this is why I said earlier to remember these people are not your friends and are out to hurt you, don’t click banner ads, don’t believe pop ups, make sure your virus protection is on and it’s a very good idea to have an adblocker on, also look out for another post I’ll be making on what download buttons to trust for different popular torrent sites

when talking comics (and remember specifically only Marvel comics) there’s no other name out there than Nemesis43, he is a god and he’s going to be your new best friend, there are groups and sites out there that do comic scans that you have to pay to join or like apply to join, that shit’s dumb as hell and I’ve never used them once and I’ve got more comic than I can read in my lifetime, you don’t need em and you especially don’t need to give them money, donate to the Hero Initiative instead

Nemesis has moved around a bit in the past (if you remember the WWT debacle) right now the main site for him is ettv (there will be a link at the end of the post) sites a bit barren but he’s there, he also has a reddit he gives updates on very rarely, generally if he moves he adds where his new home is in a text doc in his recent uploads, I fully trust him and his uploads, he’s been doing this for years and I’d never have a second thought downloading from him, also because he uploads so much he’s often very highly rated and verified on whatever site he’s on

The second place I’d recommend is getcomic (again there will be a link at the end), now this is very important, never donate to them, they kinda suck, basically they’re plugged into a bunch of different scanner groups and just steal those scans and put them up and then ask for donations, basically they’re just an aggregate (Nem kinda is too but he doesn’t ask for donations and stuff), they usually use browser downloads which are a complete pain so I’d really recommend Nemesis over them but they do have TheComicGuy on torrent galaxy for larger files but that updates a lot less frequently then the main site, again I trust these guys (as long as you’re on the actual site) but don’t trust any banner ads or pop ups, also for downloading they give multiple options, a lot are very sketchy, just use the main server

also there’s other sites like readcomics or newcomics, never used em, don’t like em, use at your own behest 

On sites like ettv you’re gonna want to use the magnet, someone years ago told me it was safer and I just believed them and have always used em, not sure if it’s true but it’s worked so whatever, really you shouldn’t be too worried about this stuff and if you follow this guide you’re going to be way over prepared to download comics, really no one cares about comic torrenting, movies, video games, tv shows that’s the stuff people really get caught on, this is just nerd shit

I’m going to be making another post showing how to use these sites, and other sites comic can be found on so look back at my blog for that

Torrent program

This is pretty basic, just get utorrent, it’s what I’ve always used, it works, whatever, definitely look this up with a VPN on or on Tor, it’s simple to use, I’ll be doing a short tutorial on how to make it even safer

Lastly this one is optional but a pretty good idea, for more than just this

VPN aka Virtual Privacy Network

honestly you can get the anonymous web browser (Tor) or the VPN first, their both going to help cover you downloading the other and honestly both are going to put you on a list for googling them (which is why I suggest looking for someone who just already has the .exes ((I always keep them on a thumbdrive for when I have to reset one of my computers)), I might try to make a google drive with em but also I might not bc that sounds like work and I’m already typing all this up), anyways I’m not really gonna explain what a VPN is, there’s a lot of resources that can explain it better than I can but basically it masks what you do on the internet, there’s a lot of choices when picking a VPN but the big thing I looked for when choosing mine was 1) non-US based so it’s harder for US investigation agencies to request stuff for them or get anything from them 2) one that doesn’t keep logs, honestly they all do even if they say they don’t, but you wanna look for one that hasn’t turned over many logs to US agencies and 3) unlimited peer 2 peer connections which is complicated but basically means you can torrent stuff anonymously and with decent speed. Like Anti-Virus there are a ton of different VPN’s out there, you really have to do research because there are actual accounts of FBI agencies crating VPN’s telling people they’re anonymous when really they had direct access to all the info, I haven’t done any research but NordVPN seems kinda like one of these, really the more they advertise the more suspicious I am, Just google “best vpn 2020″ and look at like 5 lists and read the the stuff, personally I use IPvanish which unfortunately is US based and while it gave over logs in 2016 even thought they said they didn’t keep any but now they’re owned by a new company that super double promises they don’t (again who cares they all do) but they’ve allow P2P and use 256-bit AES encryption

I wanna take a second to mention that this isn’t going to be free, this is the only place you’re going to be spending money (besides donating to Heroe Initative of course), a good VPN is about $100 a year which all in all isn’t terrible, technically you can just get by on the anonymous browser but this gives you an extra layer of security to pretty much ensure you won’t get caught and plus in the ever worsening internet hell world a VPN is becoming more and more important, I’m sure you can find articles about it but yea you don’t technically need a VPN but it’s useful for more than just this

How to work it all

Ok so this is gonna be a little stream of consciousness, as this all kinda has been, so sorry but I’m gonna try and explain it as best I can and also feel free to ask any questions on this blog, I’ll check back eventually I’m sure

So first thing first, make sure you’re virus protection is on and you’re connected on your VPN if you’re using it (you can google “what is my IP” to double check it’s working) then load up Tor, let it load and connect up and whatever, then go to https://www.ettvdl.com/user/Nemesis43 (I’m just gonna show this with Nemesis43, maybe I’ll make another one for getcomics but that’s pretty straight forward, also nem is better)

now remember we’re only here for Marvel comics, so scroll past all those thousands of other comics this would work exactly the same for, I’m gonna go for Ant-Man #4 which was released on the 13 as a digital only comic despite the first three issues being physical copies and now sit on my shelf forever unfinished making me look like a complete penis

it may take a while but it’s going to look like this, click on the blue words, it’s gonna take you to a page that looks like this

now from here we’re going to get the magnet link, right click and select copy link address, I like doing this because it limits my interactions with the page, note the advertisement at the top telling me I need a VPN despite thinking I’m in Guadalajara (which for legal reasons I am)

just copy that and then go to utorrent and click the add link

it’ll open a little box, it should add the link automatically, if it doesn’t just hit ctrl+V

hit ok and it’ll load it up, it might need to download some metadata but after that it should be good, oh also it might bring up a window basically asking where you want to save it and what to name it, you can set all that up in preferences, I did so I just turned that window off and can’t be assed to turn it back on, just hit ok if you don’t wanna bother with that stuff, it’ll go into your downloads by default

and that’s it really, it’s that easy, I might make another thing talking about how to make utorrent more anonymous or whatever so look for that, but stock it’s fine, also when it’s finished downloading it’s gonna start seeding (like uploading to someone else) I’ve always been a scumbag and I never seed but Nemesis seeds stuff so much you really don’t need to anyways, just select it and hit the stop button (the black square on the tool bar)

here are all the links I could think of

Hero Initiative

download Tor

here’s a guide for VPNs

download utorrent

song I found recently that I like

getcomics

Nemesis

so yea that’s pretty much the basics, be smart, be safe, any viruses you get are on you but I hope you found this helpful and feel free to ask any questions

oh and also this is all parody and I’ve never actually torrented anything, I don’t even own a computer